"  The  best  of  life  is  still  before  us" 

THE    BRIGHT  SIDE 


LITTLE  EXCURSIONS  INTO  THE  FIELD 
OF  OPTIMISM 


Arranged  by 
CHARLES  R.  SKINNER,  A.M;  LL.D;  Lrrr.  D. 

Former  State  Superintendent 
of  Public  Instruction,  New  York 


NEW  YORK 
FRANK  D.  BEATTYS  &  CO. 

225  FIFTH  AVENUE 


COPYRIGHT,  1909,  BY 
CHARLES  R.  SKINNER 


THE  DEVINNE  PREM 


TO 
MY  WIFE  AND  CHILDREN 


2051968    , 


THE     BRIGHT     SIDE 


OPTIMISM 

GET  all  the  good  there  is  today, 

Don't  fret  about  to-morrow. 
There's  trouble  'round  us  all  the  time, 

What  need  is  there  to  borrow? 

Look  on  the  bright  side  every  time, 
Don't  waste  your  time  repining 

When  any  cloud  looks  dark  and  dull, 
Turn  out  the  silver  lining. 

SOMERVILLE   "JOURNAL" 

OPTIMISM  is  one  of  the  signs  of  good  digestion. 

THERE'S  never  a  trouble  that  comes  to  stay; 
There's  never  a  grievance  but  fades  away; 
Forget  the  heart-ache  and  bravely  lend 
A  helping  hand  to  some  sadder  friend. 

AJCD  now  the  mists  are  lifting — 

The  tides  are  rushing  in; 
'Tis  sunrise  on  the  mountains — 

Lo!  Life  is  yet  to  win! 

WHAT  do  we  live  for,  if  it  is  not  to  make  life  less 
difficult  to  others?  GEORGE  ELIOT. 

WHAT'S  the  use  in  living  if  you  .-an't  help  a  fellow 
once  in  a  while?  j.  E.  s. 


THE    BRIGHT    SIDE 


ALL  THINGS  COME   RIGHT 

ALL  things  come  right,  and  be  it  soon  or  late, 
All  things  come  right  at  last  to  compensate 
For  all  the  petty  heartaches  of  today, 
For  all  the  little  failures  on  our  way. 
And  all  our  seeming  sorrows  it  appears 
Are  really  blessings  in  a  mask  of  tears. 
So  if  success  be  tardy  at  our  call, 
It  is  to  test  our  courage,  that  is  all. 
And  in  the  end  each  heart  will  seek  its  rest 
Beside  the  one  it  always  loved  the  best. 
The  darkest  hour  holds  the  brightest  light. 
And  all  things  come  right. 

KEYNALE  S.   PICKERING,   IN  "THE  READER." 
Used  by  special  permission  of  the  publishers, 
The  Bobbs-Merrill  Company. 

OUT  of  the  shadows  of  night 
The  world  rolls  into  light: 
It  is  daybreak  everywhere. 

LONGFELLOW. 

LET  us  be  of  good  cheer,  remembering  that  the  mis- 
fortunes hardest  to  bear  are  those  which  never  come. 

j.  R.  LOWELL. 

BEHIND  the  night  there  is  plenty  of  light,  and 
things  are  all  right — and  I  know  it. 

NOTHING  is  ever  so  bad,  but  that  it  might  be  worse. 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 

MORNING 

THE  year's  at  the  spring 
And  day's  at  the  morn; 

Morning's  at  seven ; 
The  hillside's  dew-pearled; 

The  lark's  on  the  wing; 
The  snail's  on  the  thorn: 

God's  in  His  Heaven — 
All's  right  with  the  world! 

ROBERT    BROWNING. 


BUT     ONCE 

I  SHALL  pass  through  this  world  but  once.  Any 
good  therefore  that  I  can  do,  or  any  kindness  that  I 
can  show  to  any  human  being,  let  me  do  it  now.  Let 
me  not  defer  or  neglect  it,  for  I  shall  not  pass  this  way 
again.  A.  B.  HEGEMAN. 

ONE  day  at  a  time! 
It's  a  wholesome  rhyme; 
A  good  one  to  live  by, 
A  day  at  a  time! 

HELEN    HUNT    JACKSON. 

AN  aim  in  life  is  the  only  fortune  worth  the  hav- 
ing; and  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  heart  itself. 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 


NOW 

IF  you  have  hard  work  to  do, 

Do  it  now. 

Today  the  skies  are  clear  and  blue, 
Tomorrow  clouds  may  come  in  view, 
Yesterday  is  not  for  you ; 

Do  it  now. 

If  you  have  a  song  to  sing, 

Sing  it  now. 

Let  the  notes  of  gladness  ring 
Clear  as  song  of  bird  in  spring, 
Let  every  day  some  music  bring; 

Sing  it  now. 

If  you  have  kind  words  to  say, 

Say  them  now. 

Tomorrow  may  not  come  your  way, 
Do  a  kindness  while  you  may, 
Loved  ones  will  not  always  stay; 

Say  them  now. 

If  you  have  a  smile  to  show, 

Show  it  now. 

Make  hearts  happy, — roses  grow, 
Let  the  friends  around  you  know 
The  love  you  feel  before  they  go; 

Show  it  now. 

CHARLES  R.  SKINNER. 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 


KEEP     A-GOIN' 

IF  you  strike  a  thorn  or  rose, 

Keep  a-goin'. 
If  it  hails  or  if  it  snows, 

Keep  a-goin'. 

'Taint  no  use  to  sit  an'  whine, 
When  the  fish  ain't  on  the  line, 
Bait  your  hook  an'  keep  a  tryin', 

Keep  a-goin'. 

When  the  weather  kills  your  crop, 

Keep  a-goin'. 
When  you  tumble  from  the  top, 

Keep  a-goin'. 

S'pose  your  out  o'  every  dime, 
Gittin'  broke  ain't  any  crime, 
Tell  the  world  your  pullin'  fine, 
Keep  a-goin'. 

When  it  looks  like  all  is  up, 

Keep  a-goin'. 
Drain  the  sweetness  from  the  cup, 

Keep  a-goin'. 

See  the  wild  bird  on  the  wing, 
Hear  the  bells  that  sweetly  ring, 
When  you  feel  like  sighin',  sing, 

Keep  a-goin'. 

PRANK   L.   STANTON. 

From  Songs  from  Dixie  Land.    Copyright  1900. 
Used  by  special  permission  of  the  Publishers. 

The  Bobbs-Merrill  Co. 


8         THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 


THE     LITTLE     WORD 

IF  any  little  word  of  mine 

May  make  a  life  the  brighter, 
If  any  little  song  of  mine 

May  make  a  heart  the  lighter, 
God  help  me  speak  the  little  word 

And  take  my  bit  of  singing, 
And  drop  it  in  some  lonely  vale 

To  set  the  echoes  ringing. 

If  any  little  love  of  mine 

May  make  a  life  the  sweeter, 
If  any  little  care  of  mine 

May  make  a  friend's  the  fleeter, 
If  any  lift  of  mine  may  ease 

The  burden  of  another, 
God  give  me  love  and  care  and  strength 

To  help  my  toiling  brother. 

NOBLE  deeds,  generous  and  persistent  acts  in  the 
interests  of  our  fallen  humanity,  with  unselfish  efforts 
to  elevate  and  improve  the  race,  recorded  in  the  eter- 
nal world,  are  far,  very  far,  more  valuable  and  last- 
ing than  inscriptions  on  the  costliest  marble,  or  the 
most  enduring  granite. 

BEWARE  of  despairing  about  yourself. 

ST.    AUGUSTINE. 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 


A    LITTLE     MORE     HEART 

A.  LITTLE  more  heart  in  the  things  we  do, 

And  the  sun  will  shine  softer,  the  skies  will  be  blue ; 

A  little  more  heart  in  the  words  we  say, 

And  the  lives  will  be  sweeter  we  live  by  the  way; 

A  little  more  heart  in  the  help  that  we  lend, 

And  the  chains  will  be  stronger  that  binds  friend 

to  friend; 

A  little  more  heart  in  the  toil  that  we  take, 
A  little  more  striving  for  only  love's  sake, 
A  little  more  heart  in  life's  song  and  its  prayer, 
And  the  roses  will  hide  every  ache  and  each  care ! 

BALTIMORE  "SUN." 

I  HAVE  so  much  to  live  for, 

I  can't  give  up  just  yet — 
I'll  face  the  world  with  courage 

And  not  with  vain  regret. 

POLITENESS  is  to  do  and  say 

The  kindest  thing  in  the  kindest  way. 

I  FIND  the  great  thing  in  this  world  is  not  so  much 
where  we  stand,  as  in  what  direction  we  are  moving. 
To  reach  the  port  of  Heaven,  we  must  sail  sometimes 
with  the  wind  and  sometimes  against  it, — but  we 
must  sail,  and  not  drift,  nor  lie  at  anchor. 

OLIVER  WENDELL  HOLMES. 


10       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 


INSPIRATION 

IF  I  could  climb  to  heavenly  heights, 

And  beg  one  gift  from  the  white-winged  choir 
I  would  not  ask  a  greater  boon 

Than  the  power  to  inspire, 
To  lift  by  timely  words  and  acts 

The  weak  from  day  to  day, 
To  point  them  to  a  higher  life 

To  brighten  all  their  way. 

LET  us  do  our  duty,  and  pray  that  we  may  do  our 
duty  here,  now,  today:  not  in  dreamy  sweetness  but 
in  active  energy ;  not  in  the  green  oasis  of  the  future, 
but  in  the  dusty  desert  of  the  present;  not  in  the 
imaginations  of  elsewhere,  but  in  the  realities  of  now. 

F.  W.   FABBAB. 


HIS     WEALTH 

DEY  tell  me  I's  unlucky 

'Cause  I  hasn't  got  a  cent, 
Ceppin'  now  an'  den  a  little 

Foh  a  payment  on  de  rent; 
But  de  road  is  long  an'  shady 

An'  de  leafy  woods  is  free, 
An'  I  somehow  can't  help  feelin' 

Dat  dey  all  belongs  to  me ! 


THE     BRIGHT     SIDE       11 


De  blossoms  in  de  summer 

An'  de  gold  leaf  in  de  fall — 
I  doesn't  ax  permission 

An'  I  shore  enjoys  'em  all! 
An'  de  singing  in  de  branches 

An'  de  sunshine  on  de  sea — 
I  couldn'  hardly  notice 

Dat  dey  don'  belong  to  me ! 

WASHINGTON   "STAR." 

IS     LIFE     WORTH    LIVING? 

Is  life  worth  living?     That  depends 
Upon  the  objects,  aims  and  ends. 
If  through  the  world  we  grov'ling  go 
Seeking  things  sordid,  mean  and  low, 
If  arrogating  all  to  self, 
The  pride  of  birth,  the  pomp  of  pelf, 
Scant  kindness  we  to  others  show — 
Is  life  worth  living?    No,  no,  no! 

But  if,  though  born  in  humble  sphere, 
We  try  some  drooping  heart  to  cheer; 
If  we  the  generous  impulse  know 
Of  friendship's  ever  genial  glow, 
And  if  all  other  things  above, 
We  know  the  joys  of  mutual  love; 
In  these  we  all  the  world  possess — 
Is  life  worth  living  ?    Yes,  yes,  yes ! 

THOMAS    WILSON    BROWN. 


12       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 


LIFE'S    MIRROR 

THERE  are  loyal  hearts,  there  are  spirits  brave, 
There  are  souls  that  are  pure  and  true ; 

Then  give  to  the  world  the  best  you  have, 
And  the  best  will  come  back  to  you. 

Give  love,  and  love  to  your  life  will  flow, 

A  strength  in  your  utmost  need; 
Have  faith,  and  a  score  of  hearts  will  show 

Their  faith  in  your  word  and  deed. 

Give  truth,  and  your  gift  will  be  paid  in  kind, 

And  honor  will  honor  meet; 
And  a  smile  that  is  sweet  will  surely  find 

A  smile  that  is  just  as  sweet. 

For  life  is  the  mirror  of  king  and  slave; 

'Tis  just  what  we  are  and  do; 
Then  give  to  the  world  the  best  you  have, 

And  the  best  will  come  back  to  you. 

MADELINE  S.  BRIDGES. 

WHO  is  dumb?    He  who  does  not  know  how  to  say 
kind  things  at  the  proper  time.  HINDS. 

SHOW  me  a  man  who  makes  no  mistakes  and  I  will 
show  you  a  man  who  doesn't  do  things. 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT. 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       13 


SMILE 

IF  you  think  you've  missed  the  mark, 

Use  a  Smile; 
If  your  life  seems  in  the  dark 

Why,  just  Smile. 
Don't  give  up  in  any  fight ; 
There's  a  coming  day  that's  bright, 
There's  a  dawn  beyond  the  night, 

If  you  Smile. 

OPEN    THE    DOOR 

OPEN  the  door,  let  in  the  air; 
The  winds  are  sweet  and  the  flowers  are  fair; 
Joy  is  abroad  in  the  world  today, 
If  our  door  is  wide,  it  may  come  this  way — 
Open  the  door! 

Open  the  door,  let  in  the  sun; 
He  hath  a  smile  for  every  one; 
He  hath  made  of  the  raindrops  gold  and  gems, 
He  may  change  our  tears  to  diadems — 
Open  the  door! 

Open  the  door  of  the  soul ;  let  in 
Strong,  pure  thoughts  which  will  banish  sin ; 
They  will  grow  and  bloom  with  a  grace  divine, 
And  their  fruit  shall  be  sweeter  than  that  of  the 
vine — 

Open  the  door! 


14       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 

Open  the  door  of  the  heart ;  let  in 
Sympathy  sweet  for  stranger  and  kin ; 
It  will  make  the  halls  of  the  heart  so  fair 
That  angels  may  enter  unaware — 
Open  the  door! 

REAL    LIFE 

To  know  that  there  are  some  souls,  hearts  and 
minds,  here  and  there  who  trust  us  and  whom  we 
trust: 

Some  who  know  us  and  whom  we  know : 

Some  on  whom  we  can  always  rely  and  who  always 
rely  upon  us,  makes  a  paradise  of  this  great  world : 

This  makes  our  life  really  life. 

JAMES  FREEMAN  CLARKE. 

KEEP    YOUR    GRIT 

HANG  on !  Cling  on !  No  matter  what  they  say, 
Push  on !  Sing  on !  Things  will  come  your  way, 
Sitting  down  and  whining  never  help  a  bit — 
Best  way  to  get  there  is  by  keeping  up  your  Grit. 

Don't  give  up  hoping  when  the  ship  goes  down; 
Grab  a  spar  or  something,  just  refuse  to  drown, 
Don't  think  you're  dying  just  because  you're  hit; 
Smile  in  face  of  danger  and  hang  on  to  your  Grit. 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       15 

Folks  die  too  easy,  they  sort  o'  fade  away; 
Make  a  little  error  and  give  up  in  dismay; 
Kind  o'  man  that's  needed  is  the  man  of  ready  wit 
To  laugh  at  pain  and  loss  and  keep  fast  hold  his 
Grit. 

LOUIS  E.  THAYER. 

LET  us  sometime  live — be  it  only  for  an  hour,  and 
though  we  must  lay  all  else  aside — to  make  others 
smile.  The  sacrifice  is  only  in  appearance;  no  one 
finds  more  pleasure  for  himself  than  he  who  knows 
how,  without  ostentation,  to  give  himself  that  he  may 
procure  for  those  around  him  a  moment  of  forgetful- 
ness  and  happiness. 

CHARLES  WAGNER. 

As  in  a  game  ov  cards,  so  in  the  game  ov  life,  we 
must  play  what  iz  dealt  tew  us,  and  the  glory  consists, 
not  so  mutch  in  winning  as  in  playing  a  poor  hand 

Well.  JOSH    BILLINGS. 

AFTER  every  storm  the  sun  will  smile,  for  every 
problem  there  is  a  solution,  and  the  soul's  indefens- 
ible duty  is  to  be  of  good  cheer. 

WILLIAM  R.  ALGER. 

THE  mintage  of  Wisdom  is  to  know  that  rest  is 
rust,  and  that  Real  Life  is  in  Love,  Laughter  and 

Work.  ELBERT  HUBBARD. 


16       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 


THE    SPRING    CLEANING 

Now  open  up  the  windows  of  the  heart, 
And  let  the  sunshine  penetrate  the  gloom; 

Clear  out  the  fears  and  doubts  that  grimly  start 
Like  ghosts  within  the  mind's  dim  haunted  room. 

Brush  out  the  cobwebs  that  your  malice  wrought, 
And  sweep  away  the  grudges  that  you  bear ; 

Replace  each  petty  and  ungracious  thought 
With  one  that  is  forgiving,  true  and  fair. 

And  when  the  task  is  finished,  you  will  find 
That  happiness  is  destined  to  remain 

Within  the  sunlit  rooms  of  heart  and  mind, 

And  know  your  work  has  not  been  done  in  vain. 

REYNALE  SMITH  PICKERING. 

BUILD     A    LITTLE     FENCE 

BUILD  a  little  fence  of  trust 

Around  today ; 
Fill  the  place  with  loving  deeds 

And  therein  stay; 
Look  not  through  the  sheltering  bars 

Upon  tomorrow; 

God  will  help  thee  bear  what  comes 
Of  joy  or  sorrow. 

MARY  FRANCES   BUTTS. 


THE     BRIGHT     SIDE       17 

I. 

THE  world  is  wide 
In  time  and  tide, 
And — God  is  guide — 

Then   do   not  hurry ! 

II. 

That  man  is  blest 
Who  does  his  best, 
And — leaves  the  rest, 

Then  do  not  worry ! 

CHARLES  F.  DEEMS. 

DAY    BY    DAY 

I  HEARD  a  voice  at  evening  softly  say, 
Bear  not  thy  yesterday  into  tomorrow, 
Nor  load  this  week  with  last  week's  load  of  sor- 
row. 

Lift  all  thy  burdens  as  they  come,  nor  try 
To  weigh  the  present  with  the  by  and  by. 
One  step  and  then  another,  take  thy  way ; 
Live  day  by  day. 

Live  day  by  day. 
Though  autumn  leaves  are  withering  round  thy 

way 

Walk  in  the  sunshine.     It  is  all  for  thee. 
Push  straight  ahead,  as  long  as  thou  canst  see ; 


18       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 

Dread  not  the  winter  whither  thou  mayest  go, 
But  when  it  comes,  be  thankful  for  the  snow. 
Onward  and  upward.     Look  and  smile  and  pray; 
Live  day  by  day. 

*          *          * 

IT  is  my  joy  in  life  to  find 

At  every  turning  of  the  road, 
The  strong  arm  of  a  comrade  kind 

To  help  me  onward  with  my  load; 
And  since  I  have  no  gold  to  give, 

And  love  alone  must  make  amends, 
My  only  prayer  is,  while  I  live — 

"God  make  me  worthy  of  my  friends." 

F.  D.  SHERMAN. 

BE     STRONG 

BE  Strong! 

We  are  not  here  to  play,  to  dream,  to  drift. 
We  have  hard  work  to  do,  and  loads  to  lift. 
Shun  not  the  struggle ;  face  it.  'Tis  God's  gift. 

Be  Strong! 

Say  not  the  days  are  evil — Who's  to  blame? 
And  fold  the  hands  and  acquiesce — 0  shame! 
Stand  up,  speak  out,  and  bravely,  in  God's  name. 

Be  Strong! 
It  matters  not  how  deep  intrenched  the  wrong, 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       19 

How  hard  the  battle  goes,  the  day  how  long, 
Faint  not,  fight  on!     Tomorrow  comes  the  song! 

MALTBIE  D.  BABCOCK. 
From  Thoughts  for  Every-Day  Living:  Copyright 
1901  by  Charles  Scribner's  Sons. 

SAY     SOMETHING    GOOD 

PICK  out  the  folks  you  like  the  least  and  watch 

'em  for  a  while; 
They  never  waste  a  kindly  word,  they  never  waste 

a  smile; 
They  criticise  their  fellow  men  at  every  chance 

they  get, 
They  never  found  a  human  just  to  suit  their 

fancy  yet. 
From  them  I  guess  you'd  learn  some  things,  if 

they  were  pointed  out — 
Some  things  what  every  one  of  us  should  know  a 

lot  about, 
When  some  one  "knocks"  a  brother,  pass  around 

the  loving  cup — 
Say  something  good  about  him  if  you  have  to 

make  it  up. 

*          *          # 

It's  safe  to  say  that  every  man  God  made  holds 

trace  of  good 
That  he  would  fain  exhibit  to  his  fellows  if  he 

could : 
The  kindly  deeds  in  many  a  soul  are  hibernating 

there, 


20       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 

Awaiting  the  encouragement  of  other  souls  that 
dare 

To  show  the  best  that's  in  them;  and  a  universal 
move 

Would  start  the  whole  world  running  in  a  hope- 
ful, helpful  groove. 

Say  something  sweet  to  paralyze  the  "knocker" 
on  the  spot — 

Speak  kindly  of  his  victim  if  you  know  the  man 
or  not. 


The  eyes  that  peek  and  peer  to  find  the  worst  a 

brother  holds, 
The  tongue  that  speaks  in  bitterness,  that  frets 

and  fumes  and  scolds ; 
The  hands  that  bruise  the  fallen,  though  their 

strength  was  made  to  raise 
The  weaklings  who  have  stumbled  at  the  parting 

of  the  ways — 
All  these  should  be  forgiven,  for  they  "know  not 

what  they  do ;" 
Their  hindrance  makes  a  greater  work  for  wiser 

ones  like  you, 
So,   when   they   scourge   a   wretched   one   who's 

drained  sin's  bitter  cup, 
Say  something  good  about  him  if  you  have  to 

make  it  up. 

BALTIMORE  "AMERICAN." 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       21 


CLEAR     THE     WAY 

WORLD  is  doin'  mighty  well, 
An'  I  reckon  she'd  do  better 

Ef  day  by  day 

We'd  clear  the  way, 
An'  only  let  her! 

ATLANTA   "CONSTITUTION." 

CHEERFULNESS 

IF  you'll  sing  a  song  as  you  go  along, 

In  the  face  of  the  real  or  fancied  wrong, 

In  spite  of  the  doubt,  if  you'll  fight  it  out, 

And  show  a  heart  that  is  brave  and  stout ; 

If  you'll  laugh  at  the  jeers  and  refuse  the  tears, 

You'll  force  the  ever-reluctant  cheers 

That  the  world  denies  when  a  coward  cries, 

To  give  the  man  who  bravely  tries. 

And  you'll  win  success  with  a  little  song — 

If  you'll  sing  a  song  as  you  go  along ! 

If  you'll  sing  a  song  as  you  trudge  along, 
You'll  see  that  the  singing  will  make  you  strong. 
And  the  heavy  load  and  the  rugged  road 
And  the  sting  and  the  stripe  of  the  tortuous  goad 
Will  soar  with  the  note  that  you  set  afloat ; 
That  the  beam  will  change  to  a  trifling  mote ; 
That  the  world  is  bad  when  you  are  sad, 


22       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 


And  bright  and  beautiful  when  glad, 

That  all  you  need  is  a  little  song — 

If  you  sing  the  song  as  you  trudge  along ! 

E.  MCLAIN  FIELDS  ("THE  BROWN  BOOK"). 

IT'S  part  of  my  religion  to  look  well  after  the  cheer- 
fulness of  life,  and  let  the  dismals  shift  for  themselves, 
believing,  with  good  Sir  Thomas  More,  that  it  is  wise 
to  be  "merrie  in  God."  L.  M.  ALCOTT. 

Now  don't  forget,  when  things  go  wrong, 
To  try  the  magic  of  a  song. 
A  cheerful  heart,  and  smiling  face 
,       Pour  sunshine  in  the  darkest  place. 

BE     CHEERFUL 

BE  cheerful.    Give  this  lonesome  world  a  smile. 
We  stay  at  longest  but  a  little  while. 
Hasten  we  must,  or  we  shall  lose  the  chance 
To  give  the  gentle  word,  the  kindly  glance. 
Be  sweet  and  tender — that  is  doing  good; 
'Tis  doing  what  no  other  kind  deed  could. 

JOYOUSNESS  is  nature's  garb  of  health. 

LAMARTINE. 

THANK  God  for  the  man  who  is  cheerful 
In  spite  of  life's  troubles,  I  say; 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       23 

Who  sings  of  a  bright  tomorrow, 
Because  of  the  clouds  of  today. 

His  life  is  a  beautiful  sermon, 
And  this  is  the  lesson  to  me — 

Meet  trials  with  smiles  and  they  vanish; 
Face  cares  with  a  song  and  they  flee. 

A     RECIPE     FOR     SANITY 

ABE  you  worsted  in  a  fight? 

Laugh  it  off. 
Are  you  cheated  of  your  right? 

Laugh  it  off. 

Don't  make  tragedy  of  trifles, 
Don't  shoot  butterflies  with  rifles — 

Laugh  it  off. 

Does  your  work  get  into  kinks? 

Laugh  it  off. 
Are  you  near  all  sorts  of  brinks? 

Laugh  it  off. 

If  it's  sanity  you're  after, 
There's  no  recipe  like  laughter — 

Laugh  it  off. 

HENRY  R.  ELLIOT  IN  "THE  CENTURY,"  NOV.   1906. 
By  permission  of  Century  Co. 

COMMON  sense,  in  an  uncommon  degree,  is  what  the 
world  calls  wisdom.  COLERIDGE. 


24       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 


LET    US     SMILE 

THE  thing  that  goes  the  farthest  toward  making 

life  worth  while, 
That  costs  the  least,  and  does  the  most,  is  just  a 

pleasant  smile; 
The  smile  that  bubbles  from  the  heart  that  loves 

its  fellow  men 
Will  drive  away  the  cloud  of  gloom  and  coax  the 

sun  again; 
It's  full  of  worth  and  goodness,  too,  with  manly 

kindness  blent — 
It's  worth  a  million  dollars,  and  it  doesn't  cost  a 

cent. 

I 

There  is  no  room   for  sadness   when   we  see  a 

cheery  smile; 
It  always  has  the  same  good  look — it's  never  out 

of  style; — 
It  nerves  us  on  to  try  again  when  failure  makes 

us  blue; 
The  dimples  of  encouragement  are  good  for  me 

and  you. 

It  pays  a  higher  interest  for  it  is  merely  lent — 
It's  worth  a  million  dollars,  and  doesn't  cost  a 

cent. 

A  smile  comes  very  easy — you  can  wrinkle  up 
with  cheer 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       25 

A  hundred  times  before  you  can  squeeze  out  a 

soggy  tear. 
It  ripples  out,  moreover,  to  the  heartstrings  that 

will  tug, 
And  always  leaves  an  echo  that  is  very  like  a 

hug. 
So,  smile  away.     Folks   understand  what  by  a 

smile  is  meant, 
It's  worth  a  million  dollars,  and  doesn't  cost  a 

cent. 

BALTIMORE  "AMERICAN" 

ALWAYS  laugh  when  you  can; 

It  is  a  cheap  medicine. 

Merriment  is  a  philosophy  not  well  understood. 

It  is  the  sunny  side  of  existence. 

BYRON. 

WHY  in  the  world  do  you  want  to  carry 
Things  that  annoy  and  harass  and  harry  ? 
Stop  them  and  drop  them,  a  new  day  is  here, 
Squeeze  a  laugh  from  it  instead  of  a  tear. 

HERBERT   KAUFMAN. 

THERE  is  no  medicine  equal  to  a  merry  laugh — 
well  mixed  with  fresh  air.  HUBBARD. 

A  LAUGH  is  worth  a  thousand  groans  in  any  market. 

CHARLES   LAMB. 


26       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 


KEEP     HUSTLING 

You  may  strike  a  day  or  two 
When  the  world  looks  very  blue; 

Keep  hustling. 

Good  hard  work  kills  mighty  few, 
Probably  'twill  not  hurt  you ; 

Keep  hustling. 

If  you  have  a  willing  hand, 
Orders  you  are  sure  to  land; 

Keep  hustling. 

If  the  merchant  turns  you  down 
Do  not  leave  him  with  a  frown ; 

Keep  hustling. 

If  "that  draft"  does  not  arrive, 
Don't  you  fret;  you  will  survive; 

Keep  hustling. 

GEORGE   LOARTS. 

I  WISH  to  preach  not  the  doctrine  of  ignoble  ease, 
but  the  doctrine  of  the  strenuous  life,  the  life  of  toil 
and  effort,  of  labor  and  strife;  that  highest  form  of 
success  which  comes,  not  to  the  man  who  desires  mere 
easy  peace,  but  to  the  man  who  does  not  shrink  from 
danger,  from  hardship,  or  from  bitter  toil,  and  who 
out  of  these  wins  the  splendid  ultimate  triumph. 

THEODORE   ROOSEVELT. 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       27 


PASS     IT     ON 

HAVE  you  had  a  kindness  shown? 

Pass  it  on; 
'Twas  not  given  for  thee  alone, 

Pass  it  on; 

Let  it  travel  down  the  years, 
Let  it  wipe  another's  tears, 
Till  in  heav'n  the  deed  appears — 

Pass  it  on. 

*  *          * 

Did  you  hear  the  loving  word, 

Pass  it  on; 
Like  the  singing  of  a  bird? 

Pass  it  on; 

Let  its  music  live  and  grow, 
Let  it  cheer  another's  woe; 
You  have  reap'd  what  others  sow, 

Pass  it  on. 

*  *         * 
Be  not  selfish  in  thy  greed, 

Pass  it  on; 
Look  upon  thy  brother's  need, 

Pass  it  on ; 

Live  for  self,  you  live  in  vain; 
Live  for  Christ,  you  live  again; 
Live  for  Him,  with  Him  you  reign — 

Pass  it  on. 

REV.    HENRY  BURTON. 


28       THE     BRIGHT     SIDE 


IT  is  not  always  the  doing  well 
That  measures  the  fame  of  a  man; 

The  hero  is  he,  who  the  world  can  see 
Is  doing  the  best  he  can. 


BEAUTY 

MAKE  yourselves  nests  of  pleasant  thoughts !  None 
of  us  yet  know,  for  none  of  us  have  been  taught  in 
early  youth,  what  fairy  palaces  we  may  build  of  beau- 
tiful thoughts,  proof  against  all  adversity;  bright 
fancies,  satisfied  memories,  noble  histories,  faithful 
sayings,  treasure-houses  of  precious  and  restful 
thoughts,  which  care  cannot  disturb,  nor  pain  make 
gloomy,  nor  poverty  take  away  from  us;  houses  built 
without  hands,  for  our  souls  to  live  in. 

BUSKIN. 

THOUGH  you  travel  the  world  over  to  find  the  beau- 
tiful, unless  you  carry  it  with  you,  you  find  it  not. 


THE  true  order  of  going  is  to  use  the  beauties  of 
earth  as  steps  along  which  to  mount  upwards  for  the 
sake  of  that  other  beauty.  PLATO. 

BEAUTY  is  lasting  only  to  those  who  have  planted  it 
in  their  hearts. 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       29 


To  feel  beauty  is  a  better  thing  than  to  understand 
how  we  come  to  feel  it. 

NEVER  lose  an  opportunity  to  see  anything  beauti- 
ful. Beauty  is  God's  handwriting. 

KINGSLEY. 

IF  you  get  simple  beauty  and  naught  else,  you  get 
about  the  best  thing  God  invents;  that's  somewhat; 
and  you'll  find  the  soul  you  have  missed  within  your- 
self, when  you  return  Him  thanks. 

BROWNING. 

FOR  every  beauty  there  is  an  eye  somewhere  to  see 
it;  for  every  truth  there  is  an  ear  somewhere  to  heed 
it ;  for  every  love  there  is  a  heart  somewhere  to  receive 
it.  But  though  my  beauty  meets  no  eye  it  still 
doth  glow ;  though  my  truth  meets  no  ear  it  still  doth 
shine.  But  when  my  love  meets  no  heart  it  can  only 
break. 

WOULDST  shape  a  noble  life?     Then  cast 

No  backward  glance  toward  the  past, 
And  though  somewhat  be  lost  and  gone, 
Yet  do  thou  act  as  one  new  born ; 

What  each  day  needs,  that  shalt  thou  ask, 

Each  day  will  set  its  proper  task. 

GOETHE. 


30       THE     BRIGHT     SIDE 

TODAY     AND     TOMORROW 

TODAY 

Unsullied  comes  to  thee,  new-born; 

Tomorrow  is  not  thine. 

The  sun  may  cease  to  shine 

For  thee  ere  earth  shall  greet  its  morn. 

Be  earnest  then,  in  thought  and  deed, 

Nor  fear  approaching  night ; 

Calm  comes  with  evening  light, 

And  hope  and  peace.     Thy  duty  heed 

Today. 

JOHN  LUSKIN. 


TOMORROW  has  a  rare  alluring  sound; 
Today  is  very  prose ;  and  yet  the  twain 
Are  but  one  vision  seen  thro'  altered  eyes. 
Our  dreams  inhabit  one :  our  stress  and  pain 
Surge  thro'  the  other.    Heaven  is  but  today 
Made  lovely  with  tomorrow's  face  for  aye. 

RICHARD  BURTON. 

IF  fortune,  with  a  smiling  face, 

Strew  roses  on  your  way, 
When  shall  we  stoop  to  pick  them  up? 

Today,  my  friend,  today ! 
But  should  she  frown  with  face  of  care, 

And  talk  of  coming  sorrow, 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       31 


When  shall  we  grieve  if  grieve  we  must? 
Tomorrow,  friend,  tomorrow! 

THANK  the  Lord, 

If  today  has  sorrow 
We  can  live  in  hope 

Of  a  bright  tomorrow ! 
And  still  find  peace 

When  the  storm  is  hummin', 
An'  sweet  release 

In  the  good  time  comin5! 

ATLANTA  "CONSTITUTION." 

FINISH  every  day  and  be  done  with  it.  You  have 
done  what  you  could;  some  blunders  and  absurdities 
no  doubt  crept  in ;  forget  them  as  soon  as  you  can. 
Tomorrow  is  a  new  day;  you  shall  begin  it  well  and 
serenely  and  with  too  high  a  spirit  to  be  cumbered 
with  your  old  nonsense. 

EMEESON. 

I  BELIEVE  that  today  is  better  than  yesterday,  and 
that  tomorrow  will  be  better  than  today. 

GEOEGE   F.   HOAE. 

THERE  are  two  days  about  which  nobody  should 
ever  worry,  and  these  are  yesterday  and  tomorrow. 

E.   J.   BUEDETTE. 

OUE  todays  make  our  tomorrows.  SAVAGE. 


32       THE     BRIGHT     SIDE 

WHAT    WAS     HIS     CREED? 

HE  left  a  load  of  anthracite 

In  front  of  a  poor  woman's  door, 
When  the  deep  snow,  frozen  and  white, 

Wrapped  street  and  square,  mountain  and  moor. 
That  was  his  deed, 

He  did  it  well ; 
What  was  his  creed? 
I  cannot  tell. 

•  *          • 

He  had  great  faith  in  loaves  of  bread 
For  hungry  people,  young  and  old, 
And  hope  inspired,  kind  words  he  said 
To  those  he  sheltered  from  the  cold. 
For  we  must  feed 
As  well  as  pray. 
What  was  his  creed? 
I  cannot  say. 

*  *         * 

He  put  his  trust  in  Heaven,  and  he 
Worked  well  with  hand  and  head; 
And  what  he  gave  in  charity 

Sweetened  his  sleep  and  daily  bread. 
Let  us  take  heed 

For  life  is  brief. 
This  was  his  creed, 
This  his  belief. 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       33 


THE     JOURNEY 

You's  gotter  hab  some  trouble  in  dis  rough  ol' 

world  ob  ours, 
You's  gotter  fight  de  bumble  bee,  sometimes  to 

pick  de  flowers; 
You's  gwinter  fin'  a  heap  o'  roughness  in  de  rocky 

road, 
Befo'  you  gits  wha'  you  kin  rest  an'  lay  aside 

de  load. 

But  be  humble,  an'  don'  grumble, 
'Case  you  sometimes  slip  an'  stumble, 
An'  seems  to  drap  behin'  de  res'  ob  all  de  hustlin' 

throng, 

Don't  stop  an'  staht  a-whinin' 
An'  a-whimperin'  an'  a-pinin', 
But  pick  yoh  feet  up,  honey,  an'   go  travellin' 
along. 

You  may  hab  fears  o'  troubles  dat'll  hit  yo'  hard 

some  day, 
But  dar's  wusser  boun'  to  ketch  yo'  if  yo'  halts 

along  de  way. 
You's  gotter  keep  a-movin'.     Some  is  fast  and 

some  is  slow, 
But  all  dat's  looked  foh  from  you  is  to  do  de  best 

you  know. 

So  don't  you  wait  an'  worry, 
Ef  you  falls  down  in  yoh  hurry, 


34       THE    BRIGHT    SIDE 

An'  never  mind  the  chaffin' 
An'  de  hollerin'  an'  de  laughin', 
Jes'  pull  yohse'f  together  as  you  hums  a  little 


But  pick  yoh  feet  up,  honey,  and  go  travellin' 
along. 

WASHINGTON   "STAR." 

ABSORB  the  sunshine  of  today ;  it  may  be  cloudy 
tomorrow. 

SOME  days  must  needs  be  full  of  gloom, 
Yet  must  we  use  them  as  we  may ; 

Talk  less  about  the  years  to  come, 
Give  love,  and  labor  more,  today. 

ALICE   CA*Y. 


SUNSHINE     MAKING 

PUT  a  bit  of  sunshine  in  the  day; 

Others  need  its  cheer  and  so  do  you — 
Need  it  most  when  outer  sky's  dull  gray 

Leaves  the  sunshine-making  yours  to  do. 

Give  the  day  a  streak  of  rosy  dawn ; 

Give  it,  too,  a  touch  of  highest  noon ; 
Make  the  ones  about  you  wonder  why 

Sunset  crimson  should  appear  "so  soon." 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       35 

Sunshine-making  is  a  blessed  task ; 

Cheery  hearts,  like  lovely,  wide-blue  sky, 
Banish  weary  gloom  and  give  fresh  hope, 

Check  the  rising  tear  or  thoughtless  sigh. 

Put  the  golden  sunshine  in  each  day ; 

Others  need  the  cheer  that  comes  thro*  you — 
Need  it  most  when  outer  sky's  dull  gray 

Leaves  the  sunshine-making  yours  to  do. 

JUNIATA  STAFFORD. 

JOY  is  the  sunshine  of  the  soul, 

Grief  its  showers. 
The  blending  of  the  two  in  one 

Makes  perfect  flowers. 

IF,  instead  of  a  gem,  or  even  a  flower,  we  could 
cast  the  gift  of  a  lovely  thought  into  the  heart  of  a 
friend,  that  would  be  giving  as  the  angels  give. 

GEORGE   MCDONALD. 


AND  where  we  love  is  home, 
Home  that  our  feet  may  leave,  but  not  our  hearts ; 
The  chain  may  lengthen,  but  it  never  parts. 

HOLMES. 

IT  is  the  surmounting  of  difficulties  that  makes 
heroes.  KOSSUTH. 


36       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 


THE     IDEAL 

WE  are  unsatisfied,  and  know  not  why ; 
We  seek  for  the  ideal  of  our  dreams, 
And  strive  to  reach  it  builded  by  the  beams 
Of  truth  and  faith.     Setting  our  standard  high, 
We  struggle  on;  but  when  the  prize  is  nigh 
We  find  that  it  eludes  us,  and  it  seems 
To  beckon  onward,  mocking  with  its  gleams 
Like  some  bright  mirage  in  the  eastern  sky. 

With  eyes  blind  to  the  glory  here  below, 
Our  thoughts  forever  turned  away  from  earth, 
We  see  no  beauty  around  us,  and  the  worth 
Hidden  in  humble  things  we  never  know. 
We  grope  and  pass  unheeding  on  the  way 
The  good  that  we  are  seeking  day  by  day. 
DONAHOE'S  MAGAZINE. 

GOD  hides  some  ideal  in  every  human  soul.  At 
some  time  in  our  life  we  feel  a  trembling,  fearful  long- 
ing to  do  some  good  thing.  Life  finds  its  noblest 
spring  of  excellence  in  this  hidden  impulse  to  do  our 
best.  COLLYER. 

(f 
THE  ideal  life,  the  life  of  full  completion,  haunts 

us  all.     We  feel  the  thing  we  ought  to  be,  beating  be- 
neath the  thing  we  are. 

WE  are  haunted  by  an  ideal  life,  and  it  is  because 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       37 


we  have  within  us  the  beginning  and  the  possibility 

Of  it.  PHILLIPS  BROOKS. 

IT  is  just  as  well  that  some  of  our  blessings  come 
in  disguise;  otherwise  they  would  never  catch  us. 

PUCK. 

HOLIDAYS 

THE  holiest  of  all  holidays  are  those 

Kept  by  ourselves  in  silence  and  apart; 

The  secret  anniversaries  of  the  heart, 

When  the  full  river  of  feeling  overflows; 

The  happy  days  unclouded  to  their  close; 

The  sudden  joys  that  out  of  darkness  start 

As  flames  from  ashes;  swift  desires  that  dart 

Like  swallows  singing  down  each  wind  that  blows. 

White  as  the  gleam  of  a  receding  sail, 

White  as  the  cloud  that  floats  and  fades  in  air, 

White  as  the  whitest  lily  on  a  stream, 

These  tender  memories  are;  a  fairy  tale 

Of  some  enchanted  land,  we  know  not  where, 

But  lovely  as  a  landscape  in  a  dream. 

LONGFELLOW. 

LOOK  up  and  not  down, 
Look  forward  and  not  back, 
Look  out  and  not  in, 
Lend  a  hand. 

EDWARD   EVERETT  HALE. 


! 


38       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 


HEARTS  only  thrive  on  varied  good ; 

And  he  who  gathers  from  a  host 
Of  friendly  hearts  his  daily  food, 

Is  the  best  friend  that  we  can  boast. 

HOLLAND. 

THE     SUN     WILL     SHINE 

Is  it  rainy,  little  flower? 

Be  glad  of  rain; 
Too  much  sun  would  wither  thee, 

'Twill  shine  again; 
The  clouds  are  very  thick,  tis  true, 
But  just  behind  them  smiles  the  blue. 

Art  thou  weary,  tender  heart? 

Be  glad  of  pain, 
In  sorrow  sweetest  things  will  grow 

As  flowers  in  rain; 
God  watches,  and  thou  wilt  have  sun, 
When  clouds  their  perfect  work  have  done. 

MABY    FBANCES    BUTTS. 

WE  were  made  to  radiate  the  perfume  of  good 
cheer  and  happiness  as  much  as  a  rose  was  made  to 
radiate  its  sweetness  to  every  passerby. 

A  TROUBLE  either  can  be  remedied,  or  it  cannot. 
If  it  can  be,  then  set  about  it.  If  it  cannot  be,  dis- 


THE     BRIGHT     SIDE       39 

miss  it  from  your  consciousness,  or  bear  it  so  bravely 
that  it  may  become  transfigured  to  a  blessing. 

LILLIAN    WHITING. 

LIFE  is  short  and  we  have  never  too  much  time  for 
gladdening  the  hearts  of  those  who  are  travelling  the 
journey  with  us. 

THIS  little  world  of  ours  is  not  growing  worse  to 
the  men  and  women  who  are  doing  their  best  to  make 
it  better. 

THE     NEGRO     FUNERAL 

RECITED  BY  LEW  DOCKSTADER 

WHILE  strolling  in  Savannah  past  a  church  decayed 

and  dim 

There  slowly  through  the  windows  came  a  plain- 
tive funeral  hymn. 
A  sympathy  awakened  and  a  wonder  quickly  grew, 

And  I  found  myself  environed  in  a  little  Negro  pew. 
In  front  a  colored  couple  sat  in  sorrow  almost  wild, 

On  the  altar  was  a  coffin ;  in  the  coffin  was  a  child. 
I  could  picture  him  while  living ;  kinky  hair,  protrud- 
ing lips, 

I'd  seen  perhaps  a  thousand  on  my  hurried  South- 
ern trips. 
Yet  no  baby  ever  rested  in  the  soothing  arms  of  death 


40       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 

That  had  fanned  more  flames  of  sorrow  with  its 

little  faltering  breath; 
And  no  funeral  ever  glistened  with  more  sympathy 

profound 
Than  in  that  chain  of  tear  drops  that  enclasped  the 

mourners  round. 
Rose  a  sad  old  colored  preacher  at  his  little  wooden 

desk 

In  a  manner  grandly  awkward  and  with  counte- 
nance grotesque; 
With   simplicity   and  shrewdness   on  his  Ethiopian 

face, 

And  the  ignorance,  yet  wisdom,  of  a  crushed  un- 
dying race. 

SERMON 

Naow,  naow,  don't  you  be  a  weepin'  over  this  yer  bit 

of  clay, 
Fer  the  little  boy  wat  lived  yere's  done  gone  and 

runned  away. 
He  was  doin*  mighty  fine  yer,  and  he  'predated  your 

love, 
But  his  sure  'nough  father  wanted  him  in  the  big 

house  up  above. 
He — he  didn't  give  you  this  baby,  not  by  a  thousand 

mile, 

He  jest  tought  you  needed  some  sunshine,  so  he 
lent  him  for  a  while, 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       41 


And  he  let  you  keep  and  love  him  till  your  hearts 

was  bigger  grown, 
And  the  silber  tears  you's  sheddin's  jest  the  interest 

on  the  loan. 
Here's  all  your  udder  pretty  children ;  now  don't  be 

makin'  it  appear 
Dat  your  love  wuz  sort  o'monopolized  by  this  little 

fellow  here. 
Don't  be  piling  too  much  sorrow  on  dem  little  kindly 

elves 
So's  to  get  'em  all  a  wondering  that  they're  no 

account  demselves. 
Des  you  think,  ma  poor  dear  mourners,  trabling  'long 

o'er  sorrow's  way 
What  a  blessed  little  picnic  this  yer  baby's  got 

today ; 
Wy  his  grandf adders  and  grandmudders  jest  crowd 

the  little  fellow  round 
In  the  angel-tended  garden  of  the  big  plantation 

ground. 
Dey  ax  him  "Is  your  feet  sore  ?"  den  they  take  off  his 

little  shoes, 
And  dey  wash  him  and  dey  kiss  him,  and  they  say 

"Naow  what's  the  news?" 
And  the  lad  done  cut  his  tongue  loose,  and  the  little 

fellow  say, 
All  the  people  in  the  valley  tries  to  live  the  heaben- 

ly  way. 

Den  his  eyes  dey  brightly  sparkle  at  the  pretty  things 
he  views, 


42       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 

Den  a  teardrop  an'  a  whisper,  "but  I  wants  my 

parents  too." 
Den  the  angel's  chief  musician  teach  the  little  boy  a 

song 
Sayin'  if  only  dey'll  shore  be  faithful  dey'll  soon 

be  comin'  'long. 
So  ma  poor  dejected  mourners  in  Him  above  let  your 

hearts  rest 
And  don't,  don't  be  criticizing  to  one  wot  knows 

the  best; 
He  has  given  so  many  comforts  He  had  de  right  to 

take  away; 

In  Him  be  praise  and  glory,  now  and  ebber : — Let 
us  pray. 

THE     MAN     WHO     DOES 

THERE  are  two  kinds  of  persons  in  the  world :  those 
who  think  first  of  difficulties,  and  those  who  think 
first  of  the  importance  of  accomplishment  in  spite  of 
difficulties.  If  a  thing  ought  to  be  done  the  presence 
of  severe  obstacles  to  its  doing  is  only  a  further 
reason  for  bringing  it  to  pass.  The  trait  of  instantly 
showing  why  a  thing  cannot  be  done  is  keeping  down 
more  young  men,  and  older  men  too,  in  business,  than 
any  other  factor  in  their  lives.  Anybody  can  point 
out  difficulties ;  it  calls  for  brains  and  courage  to  look 
beyond  difficulties  to  the  end.  If  you  want  to  stay 
just  where  you  are  in  the  procession,  or  fall  steadily 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       43 


behind,  give  obstacles  a  first  place  in  your  life.  If 
you  want  to  count  for  something  more  than  the  "aver- 
age," let  every  obstacle  be  a  fresh  incentive  to  action. 

I  DO  not  know 
Where  falls  the  seed  I  have  to  sow 

With  the  greatest  care; 

But  I  shall  know 
The  meaning  of  each  waiting  hour  below 

Sometime — somewhere. 

THE  best  and  highest  thing  a  man  can  do  in  a  day 
is  to  sow  a  seed  whether  it  be  a  word,  an  act  or  an 
acorn.  JAMES  BOYLE  O'REILLY. 


LITTLE     BY     LITTLE 

LITTLE  by  little  the  world  grows  strong, 
Fighting  the  battles  of  right  and  wrong; 
Little  by  little  the  wrong  gives  way, 
Little  by  little  the  right  has  sway; 
Little  by  little  all  longing  souls 
Struggle  up  nearer  the  shining  goals. 

FLOWERS  never  emit  so  pleasant  and  strong  a 
fragrance  as  before  a  storm.  Beauteous  soul !  when  a 
storm  approaches  thee  be  as  fragrant  as  a  sweet-smell- 
ing flower.  RICHTER. 


44       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 


LIFE  is  God's  gymnasium.  He  takes  the  measures ; 
we  do  not  know  what  they  are.  He  puts  us  in  our 
places  and  tenderly  disciplines  us. 

THE  man  leans  back  upon  his  oars,  satisfied.  We 
may  come  to  that  mood  in  spiritual  things  as  surely 
as  in  temporal.  Some  men  practically  retire  from 
religion,  much  as  they  retire  from  business,  because 
they  think  they  have  accumulated  enough  to  live  on. 
That  was  not  Paul's  way. 

PROF.   C.   T.   WINCHESTER. 

Zion's  Herald. 
GIVE     HIM    A    LIFT 

GIVE  him  a  lift !    Don't  kneel  in  prayer, 
Nor  moralize  with  his  despair. 
The  man  is  down,  and  his  great  need 
Is  ready  help — not  prayer  and  creed. 

One  grain  of  aid  just  now  is  more 
To  him  than  tomes  of  saintly  lore ; 
Pray  if  you  must,  in  your  full  heart, 
But  give  him  a  lift — give  him  a  start. 

The  world  is  full  of  good  advice, 
Of  prayer  and  praise,  and  preaching  nice; 
But  the  generous  souls  who  aid  mankind 
Are  scarce  as  gold  and  hard  to  find. 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       45 

Give  like  a  Christian — speak  in  deeds. 
A  noble  life's  the  best  of  creeds ; 
And  he  shall  wear  a  royal  crown 
Who  gives  'em  a  lift  when  they  are  down. 

LIFE  is  made  up,  not  of  great  sacrifices  or  duties, 
but  of  little  things,  in  which  smiles  and  kindnesses, 
and  small  obligations  given  habitually,  are  what  win 
and  preserve  the  heart  and  secure  comfort. 

SIE.  H.  DAVY. 

THE  one  sin  in  the  world  is  selfishness,  the  one  vir- 
tue is  love.  In  these  two  rest  all  the  theology  and 
philosophy  of  the  ages. 

OLD-FASHIONED 
PHILOSOPHY 

SCORN  not  the  homely  virtues.    We  are  prone 
To  search  through  all  the  world  for  something  new ; 
And  yet  sometimes  old-fashioned  things  are  best — 
Old-fashioned  work,  old  fashioned  rectitude, 
Old-fashioned  honor  and  old-fashioned  prayer, 
Old-fashioned  patience  that  can  bide  its  time, 
Old-fashioned  firesides  sacred  from  the  world, 
Old-fashioned  satisfaction  with  enough, 
Old-fashioned  candor  and  simplicity, 
Old-fashioned  folks  that  practice  what  they  preach. 

J.  A.  EDGERTON,   IN  NATIONAL  MAGAZINE. 


46       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 

A  LITTLE  work,  a  little  play 

To  keep  us  going — and  so,  good-day ! 

A  little  warmth,  a  little  light 

Of  love's  bestowing — and  so,  good-night! 

A  little  fun  to  match  the  sorrow 

Of  each  day's  growing — and  so,  good-morrow! 

GEORGE    DUMATTRIER. 

You  cannot  run  away  from  a  weakness;  you  must 
fight  it  out  or  perish.  And  if  that  be  so,  why  not  now, 
and  where  you  stand? 

SPIRIT     OF     CHRISTMAS 

I  AM  thinking  of  you  today  because  it  is  Christ- 
mas, and  I  wish  you  happiness.  And  tomorrow,  be- 
cause it  will  be  the  day  after  Christmas,  I  shall  wish 
you  happiness;  and  soon  clear  through  the  year.  I 
may  not  be  able  to  tell  you  about  it  every  day,  be- 
cause I  may  be  far  away ;  or  because  both  of  us  may 
be  very  busy.  But  it  makes  no  difference.  The 
thought  and  the  wish  will  be  here  just  the  same. 
Whatever  joy  or  success  comes  to  you  will  make  me 
glad.  Without  pretense,  and  in  plain  words,  good 
will  to  you  is  what  I  mean,  in  the  Spirit  of  Christmas. 

HENRY  VAN  DYKE. 
From  The  Spirit  of  Christmas;  Copyright  1905  by  Charles  Scribner's  Sons. 

BLESSED  are  the  happiness  makers. 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       47 

GOOD     NIGHT 

SLEEP  sweetly  in  this  quiet  room, 
O  thou,  whoe'er  thou  art, 
And  let  no  mournful  yesterdays 
Disturb  thy  peaceful  heart. 
Nor  let  tomorrow  scare  thy  rest 
With  thoughts  of  coming  ill; 
Thy  Maker  is  thy  changeless  friend, 
His  love  surrounds  thee  still. 
Forget  thyself  and  all  the  world ; 
Put  out  each  feverish  light, 
The  stars  are  watching  overhead, 
Sleep  sweetly  then.    Good  night. 

GOOD   night!     Good   night! 

Far  flies  the  light ; 

But  still  God's  love  t 

Shall  flame  above, 

Making  all  bright. 

Good  night!     Good  night! 

VICTOR  HUGO. 

BEAUTY     OF     WORK 

THE  beauty  of  work  depends  upon  the  way  we  meet 
it.  Whether  we  arm  ourselves  each  morning  to  at- 
tack it  as  an  enemy  that  must  be  vanquished  before 
night  comes,  or  whether  we  open  our  eyes  with  the 


48       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 


sunrise  to  welcome  it  as  an  approaching  friend  who 
will  keep  us  delightful  company  all  day,  and  who  will 
make  us  feel  at  evening  that  the  day  was  well  worth 
its  fatigues.  LUCY  LABCOM. 

YET  ere  we  part,  one  lesson  I  can  leave  you 

For  every  day     . 

Be  good     . 

Do  noble  things,  not  dream  them,  all  day  long; 
And  so  make  life,  death,  and  that  vast  forever 

One  grand  sweet  song. 

CHAELES    KINGSLEY. 

THEN  take  this  honey  for  the  bitterest  cup: 

There  is  no  failure,  save  in  giving  up ; 

No  real  fall  so  long  as  one  still  tries, 

For  seeming  setbacks  make  the  strong  men  wise. 

There's  no  defeat,  in  truth,  save  from  within ; 

Unless  you're  beaten  there,  you're  bound  to  win. 

A     RHYME     OF     THE     SEASON 

TAIN*  no  use  complainin' 

While  you's  travellin'  along. 

Keep  yoh  voice  in  trainin' 
Foh  to  sing  a  little  song. 

Tain'  no  use  o'  sighin' 
In  a  melancholy  style. 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       49 

You  kin  weep  wif out  half  tryin' ; 
It's  some  credit  when  you  smile. 

So  we'll  celebrate  Thanksgivin' 

As  we've  often  done  befo'. 
Thankful  dat  we's  livin' 

If  we  ain'  foh  nothin'  mo. 

NEVER  to  tire;  never  to  grow  cold;  to  be  patient, 
sympathetic,  tender;  to  look  for  the  budding  flower 
and  the  opening  heart,  to  hope  always ;  like  God,  to 
love  always — this  is  our  duty. 

AMIEL. 

IT  matters  little  where  I  was  born,  or  5f  my 
parents  were  rich  or  poor;  but  whether  I  live  an 
honest  man  and  hold  my  integrity  firm  in  my  clutch, 
I  tell  you,  my  brother,  as  plain  as  I  can — it  matters 

much.  EMERSON. 

BETTER  stop  dis  kickin' 

Doesn't  help  a  bit 
Kin'  o'  weather  what  you  has 

Is  all  you's  gwinter  git. 

RECIPE    FOR    A    HAPPY    LIFE 

THREE  ounces  are  necessary,  first  of  patience, 
Then  of  repose  and  peace;  of  conscience 


50       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 

A  pound  entire  is  needful: 

Of  pastimes  of  all  sorts,  too, 

Should  be  gathered  as  much  as  the  hand  can  hold; 

Of  pleasant  memory  and  of  hope  three  good  drachms 

There  must  be  at  least.    But  they  should  moistened  be 

With  a  liquor  made  from  true  pleasures  which  rejoice 

the  heart. 

Then  of  love's  magic  drops  a  few — 
But  use  them  sparingly,  for  they  may  bring  a  flame 
Which  naught  but  tears  can  drown. 
Grind  the  whole  and  mix  therewith  of  merriment  an 

ounce 

To  even.    Yet  all  this  may  not  bring  happiness 
Except  in  your  orisons  you  lift  your  voice 
To  Him  who  holds  the  gift  of  health. 

Written  by  MARGARET  of  Navarre  in  1500. 

RULE    FOR    HAPPINESS 

SOMETHING  to  do, 
Some  one  to  love, 
Something  to  hope  for. 

KANT. 

HAPPINESS  is  a  fact,  not  an  attainment. 

THE    GAMBLER. 

CHARACTER  is  the  basis  of  happiness,  and  happi- 
ness is  the  sanction  of  character. 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       51 

WE  should  tell  ourselves  once  for  all  that  it  is  the 
first  duty  of  the  soul  to  become  as  happy,  complete, 
independent,  and  great  as  lies  in  its  power. 

MAETERLINCK. 

WHETHER  any  particular  day  shall  bring  to  you 
more  of  happiness  or  of  suffering  is  largely  beyond 
your  power  to  determine.  Whether  each  day  of  your 
life  shall  give  happiness  or  suffering  rests  with  your- 
self. 

GEORGE    L.    MERRIAM. 


THE    SECRET    OF    HAPPINESS 

THE  moment  we  set  about  the  task  of  making  every 
human  being  we  come  in  contact  with  better  for 
knowing  us — more  cheerful,  more  courageous,  and 
with  greater  faith  in  the  kindness  of  God  and  man — 
that  moment  we  begin  to  attain  the  third  purpose  of 
life — personal  happiness. 

Would  you  possess  the  magic  secret  of  the  alche- 
mist which  transforms  all  things  to  gold? 

It  is  unselfishness — or,  to  use  a  better  word,  selfless- 
ness. 

He  who  goes  forth  bent  upon  being  always  kind, 
always  helpful,  in  the  little  daily  events  of  life,  will 
find  all  skies  tinted  with  gold,  all  his  nights  set  with 


52       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 


stars,  and  unexpected  flowers  of  pleasure  springing 
up  in  his  pathway. 

And  all  his  tears  shall  turn  into  smiles. 

To  have  joy  one  must  share  it. — 
Happiness  was  born  a  twin. 


IF  you  ever  find  happiness  by  hunting  for  it,  you 
will  find  it  as  the  old  woman  did  her  lost  spectacles, 
safe  on  her  own  nose  all  the  time. 

JOSH   BILLINGS. 

THE  happiness  of  your  life  depends  upon  the 
character  of  your  thoughts. 

MARCUS    AUEELIUS. 

GENEROSITY  is  the  investment  from  which  we  clip 
the  coupons  of  happiness. 

FOUR    TRACK    NEWS. 

IF  I  am  happy  in  spite  of  my  deprivations,  if  my 
happiness  is  so  deep  that  it  is  a  faith,  so  thoughtful 
that  it  becomes  a  philosophy  of  life, — my  testimony 
to  the  creed  of  optimism  is  worth  hearing.  My 
optimism  rests  on  a  glad  belief  in  the  preponderance 
of  good  and  a  willing  effort  always  to  co-operate  with 
the  good,  that  it  may  prevail.  I  try  to  increase  the 
power  God  has  given  me  to  see  the  best  in  everything 
and  every  one,  and  make  that  best  a  part  of  my  life. 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       53 

To  what  is  good  I  open  the  doors  of  my  being,  and 
jealously  shut  them  against  what  is  bad. 

HELEN    KELLER. 

To  be  truly  happy  is  a  question  of  how  we  begin 
and  not  of  how  we  end,  of  what  we  want  and  not 
of  what  we  have. 

STEVENSON. 

WE  communicate  happiness  to  others  not  often  by 
great  acts  of  devotion  and  self-sacrifice,  but  by  the 
absence  of  fault-finding  and  censure,  by  being  ready 
to  sympathize  with  their  notions  and  feelings,  instead 
of  forcing  them  to  sympathize  with  ours. 

JAMES   FREEMAN    CLARKE. 

SPEAKING  of  happiness,  Joseph  Jefferson  once 
said:  "My  boys  sometimes  get  discouraged  and  I 
say  to  them :  'Go  out  and  do  something  for  somebody. 
Go  out  and  give  something  to  anybody,  if  it's  only 
a  pair  of  woolen  stockings  to  a  poor  old  woman,  it 
will  take  you  away  from  yourself  and  make  you 
happy!'" 

AND  there  are  hearts  like  richest  wines, 
That  sweeter  grow  with  Time's  caress, 

Till  he  who  softly  opens,  finds 
A  hidden  store  of  happiness. 

E.    H.    KEENE. 


54       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 


HUMOR    A    GOOD    BUFFER 

ON  Sept.  9,  1909,  President  Taft  sent  the  follow- 
ing greeting  to  the  American  Press  Humorists'  As- 
sociation at  Buffalo: 

"Please  convey  to  the  American  Press  Humorists 
in  convention  in  Buffalo  my  warmest  greetings.  Tell 
them  for  me  that  they  can  be  engaged  in  no  better 
vocation  than  making  people  laugh.  Humor  is  like 
the  buffer  between  two  heavy  railroad  cars.  It  re- 
lieves the  jolts  of  life.  It  is  a  shock  absorber.  It 
makes  the  journey  through  the  years  easier,  and 
brightens  the  pathway  all  along  the  route.  We 
Americans  could  not  get  along  without  humor." 

HAPPINESS  is  purely  a  matter  of  reciprocity.  He 
who  is  happiest  is  he  who  gives  the  most  happiness. 

THE  man  who  gets  most  out  of  life  is  the  man  who 
takes  advantage  of  every  opportunity  and  neglects 
no  chance  to  enlarge  his  field  of  observation  and 
extend  his  experiences.  The  more  mosaics  we  work 
into  our  allotted  years  the  nearer  our  life  will  be 
worth  living. 

FOUR  TRACK  NEWS. 

ABILITY  is  of  little  account  without  opportunity. 

NAPOLEON. 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       55 


OPPORTUNITY 

THEY  do  me  wrong  who  say  I  come  no  more, 
When  once  I  knock  and  fail  to  find  you  in ; 

For  every  day  I  stand  outside  your  door 
And  bid  you  wait,  and  rise  to  fight  and  win. 

Weep  not  for  precious  chances  passed  away, 
Weep  not  for  golden  ages  on  the  wane; 

Each  night  I  burn  the  records  of  the  day, 
At  sunrise  every  soul  is  born  again. 

Laugh  like  a  boy  at  splendors  that  have  sped, 
To  vanished  joys  be  blind  and  deaf  and  dumb; 

My  judgments  seal  the  dead  past  with  its  dead, 
But  never  bind  a  moment  yet  to  come. 

Though  deep  in  mire,  wring  not  your  hands  and  weep ; 

I  lend  my  arm  to  all  who  say  "I  can" ; 
No  shame-faced  outcast  ever  sank  so  deep 

But  yet  might  rise  and  be  again  a  man. 

Dost  thou  behold  thy  lost  youth  all  aghast? 

Dost  reel  from  righteous  retribution's  blow? 
Then  turn  from  blotted  archives  of  the  past 

And  find  the  future's  page  as  white  as  snow. 

JUDGE  WALTEE  MALONE. 

LET  every  dawn  of  morning  be  to  you  as  the  be- 
ginning of  life. 

BUSKIN. 


56       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 

AGE  is  opportunity,  no  less 
Than  youth  itself,  though  in  another  dress : 
And,  as  the  evening  twilight  fades  away, 
The  stars  are  seen  by  night,  invisible  by  day. 

LONGFELLOW. 

IT  takes  a  live  fish  to  go  up  stream.  Any  dead 
one  can  float  down. 

EDUCATION  should  be  a  training  to  take  advantage 
of  opportunities. 

\ 

TRUE  success  is  not  excelling  or  equalling  some- 
one else,  but  making  the  most  of  your  own  capacities 
and  opportunities. 

KNOWLEDGE  that  does  not  aid  in  overcoming  diffi- 
culties is  not  power. 

GOD'S  best  gift  to  us  is  not  things,  but  opportuni- 
ties. ALICE  W.  ROLLINS. 

MANY  men  owe  the  grandeur  of  their  lives  to  their 
tremendous  difficulties.  SPURGEON. 

VIGILANCE  in  watching  opportunity,  tact  and  dar- 
ing in  seizing  opportunity, — force  and  persistence 
in  crowding  opportunity  to  its  utmost  of  possible 
achievement: — these  are  the  martial  virtues  which 
command  success. 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       57 


SUCCESS 

SUCCESS?     What  is  this  thing  Success,  I  pray? 

Is  it  to  stand  forth  in  the  glare  of  day 

As  one  who  wins  great  battles  in  the  marts 

Without  regard  to  human  souls  and  hearts? 

Is  it  to  strive  in  blindness  of  the  right 

Toward  and  to  achieve  some  goal  of  might 

Wherefrom  vast  riches  pour,  huge  stores  of  gold, 

Into  the  coffers  of  the  keen  and  bold  ? 

Is  it  to  win  through  trickery  of  phrase 

And  nice  word  polishments  the  Poet's  bays, 

Or  laurels  of  the  Masters  of  Romance, 

Not  by  endeavor,  but  by  stylist's  chance? 

Is  it  to  trample  by  sheer  force  of  will 

O'er  plodders  for  the  right,  o'er  halt  and  ill? 

To  snatch  some  high  position  in  the  State, 

To  principle  and  honor  runagate? 

Is  it  to  climb  from  lowly  place  to  high 

Regardless  of  the  rungs  of  misery? 

Or  is  it  his  who  lives  his  mortal  span 

In  all  things  striving  to  become  a  man? 

To  live  as  God  hath  willed,  to  use  his  brawn 

To  help  another  to  some  joyous  dawn? 

To  use  his  strength,  his  valor  and  his  wit 

Shall  say  of  his  achievement  small  "Well  done! 

So  that,  though  riches  small  may  come  of  it, 

His  fellows  when  his  sands  of  life  are  run 


58       THE     BRIGHT     SIDE 


Here  falls  a  man  we  never  knew  to  shirk; 
The  world  is  brighter  for  his  modest  work !" 
Ah,  give  to  me  not  that  Success  that  comes 
Mixed  in  with  others'  tears,  with  sounding  drums, 
But  better  far  the  laurel  that  depends 
Upon  the  love  and  honor  of  my  friends. 
Those  bays  the  more  securely  e'er  will  rest 
That  come  from  those  who  understand  us  best; 
The  only  ones  are  they  that  really  bless 
And  form  the  measure  of  the  true  Success ! 

JOHN    KENDRICK    BANGS. 

Used  by  special  permission  of  the  author 

'Tis  not  in  mortals  to  command  success ; 
But  we'll  do  more,  Sempronious, — we'll  deserve  it. 

ADDISON. 

THERE  is  only  one  real  failure  possible;  and  that 
is,  not  to  be  true  to  the  best  one  knows. 

CANON    FARRAR. 

HE  that  has  kept  clean  hands  and  stainless  heart, 
He  that,  in  climbing,  bore  no  brother  down ; 

Whose  vision  sees  not  God  and  man  apart — 

He  has  not  failed!     To  him  the  victor's  crown. 
— FLORENCE  A.  JONES  in  Watson's  Magazine. 

OUR  greatest  glory  is  not  in  never  falling  but  in 
rising  every  time  we  fall. 

GOLDSMITH. 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       59 

"THAT  is  best  which  most  inspires 
And  fills  the  soul  with  high  desires. 
Not  wealth,  but  welfare,  is  success; 

Beneficence  life's  crown  must  bring 
For  nothing  lives  but  righteousness, 
And  character  is  everything!" 

IF  you  wish  success  in  life  make  perseverance  your 
bosom  friend,  experience  your  wise  counselor,  caution 
your  elder  brother  and  hope  your  guardian  genius. 

WEBSTER. 

IS     IT     SUCCESS? 

Is  it  success  to  climb  to  eminence 

Upon  the  ruins  of  another's  hopes, 
To  gain  the  topping  height  at  the  expense 

Of  one  condemned  to  slave  on  lower  slopes — 
Is  it  success? 

Is  it  success  to  lose  in  wealth's  pursuit 

The  consciousness  of  right  and  self-respect, 

Nor  care,  so  gold  become  our  labor's  fruit, 
How  many  noble  principles  are  wrecked — 
Is  it  success? 

Is  it  success  before  the  world  to  bear 

A  banner  that  is  seeming  free  from  spots, 
And  simultaneous  in  the  bosom  wear 


60       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 

A  heart  made  hideous  by  secret  blots — 
Is  it  success? 

SUSIE   M.    BEST. 

STRENGTH  is  success.  Strength  to  be,  strength  to 
do,  strength  to  love,  strength  to  live.  It  is  not  happi- 
ness, it  is  not  amusement,  it  is  not  content.  These 
will  come  but  they  are  not  the  object. 

EDWARD   EVERETT   HALE. 

SUCCESS  does  not  consist  in  never  making  blun- 
ders, but  in  never  making  the  same  one  a  second 
time.  SHAW. 

THE  talent  of  success  is  nothing  more  than  doing 
what  you  can  well,  and  doing  well  whatever  you  do, 
without  a  thought  of  fame. 

LONGFELLOW. 

ACT    THE    MAN 

BE  strong,  my  boy,  and  buckle  in — 

When  disappointments  come; 
Choke  down  adversity  and  grin, 

Don't  act  morose  and  glum. 
Your  heart  received  a  knife-thrust  there 

Which  wasn't  in  your  plan, 
But  hold  your  head  up  in  the  air — 

Be  brave,  and  act  the  man. 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       61 

What  if  the  blow  was  cruel,  lad? 

What  though  it  cuts  you  sore? 
'Twas  no  worse  than  we  all  have  had, 

And  there'll  be  dozens  more. 
Stand  firm  and  true  for  what  is  right — 

With  God's  help,  lad,  you  can ; 
And  when  reverses  come  in  sight, 

Be  brave,  and  act  the  man. 

E.    A.   BRININSTOOL,    IN    LOS   ANGELES  "EXPRESS." 

THE  king  is  the  man  who  can. 

CARLYLE. 

WE  find  in  life  exactly  what  we  put  in  it. 

EMERSON. 

PLUCK    WINS 

PLUCK  wins !    It  always  wins !  though  days  be  slow, 

And  nights  be  dark  'twixt  days  that  come  and  go. 

Still  pluck  will  win ;  its  average  is  sure, 

He  gains  the  prize  who  will  the  most  endure; 

Who  faces  issues;  he  who  never  shirks; 

Who  waits  and  watches,  and  who  always  works. 

CHARACTER 

FOR  what   a  man  has  he  may  be  dependent  on 
others;  what  he  really  is  rests  with  himself. 


62       THE     BRIGHT     SIDE 


LIFE  is  a  quarry  out  of  which  we  are  to  mould, 
chisel  and  complete  a  character. 


ONE  must,  in  life,  make  his  own  observations,  frame 
his  own  inductions,  and  apply  them  in  action  as  he 
goes  along.  The  habit  of  finding  out  the  best  thing 
to  do  next,  and  then  doing  it,  is  the  basis  of  charac- 
ter. A  strong  and  efficient  character  is  built  up  by 
doing,  not  by  imitation  or  by  feeling,  or  by  sug- 
gestion. 

THE  workshop  of  character  is  everyday  life. 

CHARACTER  is  the  fabric  the  individual  himself 
must  weave  from  the  threads  of  his  own  effort. 

CHARACTER  is  the  result,  not  so  much  of  trying  to 
be  good,  as  trying  to  be  better. 

CHARACTER  is  a  combination  of  many  virtues. 
NO   USE    GRIEVIN' 

AIN'T  no  use  in    grievin' 

Over   these   hard   times; 
Ain't  no  use  in  weavin' 

Of  your  mournful  rhymes. 
Ain't  a  bit  o'  good  in  it ; 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       63 

Neither  bread  nor  wood  in  it; 

But  the  way  to  do — 
Roll  your  shirt  sleeves  higher  up ; 
Loose  the  brakes  and  fire  up — 

Then,   go   steamin'   through! 

ATLANTA    "CONSTITUTION." 

WHEN  the  outlook  is  not  good,  try  the  uplook. 

IT'S  the  song  ye  sing,  and  the  smiles  ye  wear, 
That's  a  makin'  the  sun  shine  everywhere. 

BILEY. 

THE  worst  of  our  enemies  are  those  which  we  carry 
about  in  our  own  hearts. 

THOLUCK. 

To  be  trusted  is  a  greater  compliment  than  to  be 
loved. 

GEORGE   MACDONALD. 

ONE    KINDLY    THOUGHT 

MAY  every  soul  that  touches  mine 

Be    it    the    slightest    contact — get    therefrom    some 

good, 

Some  little  grace — one  kindly  thought, 
One  aspiration  yet  unfelt,  one  bit  of  courage 
For  the  darkening  sky, — one  gleam   of   faith 
To  brave  the  thickening  ills  of  life, 


64       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 

One  glimpse  of  brighter  skies  beyond  the  gathering 

mists, 

To  make  this  life  worth  while 
And  heaven  a  surer  heritage. 

THE   new  religion  will  not  teach  that  character 
can  be  changed  quickly. 

It  will  not  deal  chiefly  with  sorrow  and  death,  but 
with  joy  and  life. 

DR.  ELIOT. 

SORROW  loses  half  its  terrors  if  we  have  some  kind 
heart  to  help  us  bear  it. 

HOPE  is  the  life  preserver  which  keeps  us  from 
sinking  in  the  sea  of  despair. 

ALL  one's  life  is  music,  if  one  touch  the  notes  right 
and  in  time.  RUSKIN. 

THE   man  who  borrows  trouble  will  never  lend 
smiles. 

SAY  little,  serve  all,  pass  on. 

KINDNESS  is  the  first  element  in  the  modern  hero. 

A  SWEET  temper  is  to  the  household  what  sunshine 
is  to  trees  and  flowers. 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       65 

THE  world  goes  up,  and  the  world  goes  down, 

And  the  sunshine  follows  the  rain ; 
And  yesterday's  sneer  and  yesterday's  frown 

Can  never  come  again. 

CHARLES   KINGSLEY. 

"I'VE  noticed,"  remarked  Uncle  Allen  Sparks, 
"that  the  man  who  is  always  hunting  for  trouble 
finds  it  some  day  where  he  isn't  looking  for  it." 

CHICAGO  "TBIBUNE." 

BUT  this  one  thing  I  do,  forgetting  those  things 
which  are  behind,  and  reaching  forth  unto  those 
things  which  are  before,  I  press  toward  the  mark  for 
the  prize  of  the  high  calling. 

ST.  PAUL,  Phil.,  3-13. 

THE  whole  secret  of  remaining  young  in  spite  of 
years,  and  even  of  gray  hairs,  is  to  cherish  enthusiasm 
in  oneself,  by  poetry,  by  contemplation,  by  charity, 
that  is,  in  fewer  words,  by  the  maintenance  of  har- 
mony in  the  soul. 

AMIEL. 

WHATSOEVER  things  are  True, 
Whatsoever  things  are  Honest; 
Whatsoever  things  are  Just, 
Whatsoever  things  are  Pure; 
Whatsoever  things  are  Lovely, 
Whatsoever  things  are  of  Good  Report ; 


66       THE     BRIGHT     SIDE 

If  there  be  any  Virtue,  and  if  there  be  any  Praise 
Think  on  these  things. 

ST.  PAUL,  Phil.,  4-8. 

To  each  one  of  us  the  night  of  sorrow  and  trouble 
comes,  and  our  eyes  are  ofttimes  so  filled  by  tears 
that  we  cannot  see  the  stars  that  still  shine  above  us ; 
but  we  must  never  forget  that  the  light  is  there, 
shining  true  and  steadfast  to  lighten  us  on  our  way. 
"TO-DAY'S  MAGAZINE" 


MY   SHARE 

IF  any  round  about  me  play, 
And  dance  and  sing  in  glad  array, 

And  laugh  and  cheer, 
May  it  be  mine  to  see  and  hear. 

If  any  toil  at  noble  things, 
And  strive  the  higher  levelings, 

— To  reach  and  win, 
May  it  be  mine  to  join  therein. 
And  tears  fall  like  the  summer  rain 

From  troubled  skies, 
May  it  be  mine  to  sympathize. 

In  all  that  makes  the  round  of  life, 
Be  it  of  pleasure,  peace  or  strife, 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       67 

Joy  or  despair, 
May  I  my  proper  burden  bear. 

JOHN   KENDRICK   BANGS. 

Used  by  permission  of  author. 

THE  only  hope  of  preserving  what  is  best,  lies  in 
the  practice  of  an  immense  charity,  a  wide  tolerance, 
a  sincere  respect  for  opinions  that  are  not  ours. 

HAMERTON. 

LIFE'S  race  well  run, 
Life's  work  well  done, 
Life's  victory  won, 

Now  cometh  rest. 

'Tis  not  what  a  man  does  which  exalts  him:  but 
what  a  man  would  do.  BROWNING. 

THE    THINGS    THAT    COUNT 

NOT  what  we  have,  but  what  we  use; 
Not  what  we  see,  but  what  we  choose — 
These  are  the  things  that  mar  or  bless 
The  sum  of  human  happiness. 

The  things  near  by,  not  things  afar; 
Not  what  we  seem,  but  what  we  are — 
These  are  things  that  make  or  break, 
That  give  the  heart  its  joy  or  ache. 


68       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 

Not  what  seems  fair,  but  what  is  true; 
Not  what  we  dream,  but  good  we  do — 
These  are  the  things  that  shine  like  gems, 
Like  stars,  in  Fortune's  diadems. 

Not  as  we  take,  but  as  we  give ; 

Not  as  we  pray,  but  as  we  live — 

These  are  the  things  that  make  for  peace, 

Both  now  and  after  Time  shall  cease. 

CLARENCE  UEMY  in  the  "OUTLOOK". 

Used  by  special  permission  of  the  author; 

THAT  best  portion  of  a  good  man's  life — 
His  little,  nameless,  unremembered  acts 
Of  kindness  and  of  love. 

WORDSWORTH. 

THE  test  of  your  Christian  character  should  be 
that  you  are  a  joy-bearing  agent  to  the  world. 

B  EEC  HER. 

NOTHING  is  so  strong  as  gentleness, 
Nothing  so  gentle  as  real  strength. 

ST.   FRANCIS  DE  SALES. 

SYMPATHY 

'Tis  a  little  thing 

To  give  a  cup  of  water;  yet  its  draught 
Of  cool  refreshment,  drained  by  fevered  lips, 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       69 


May  give  a  shock  of  pleasure  to  the  frame 
More  exquisite  than  when  nectarian  juice 
Renews  the  life  of  joy  in  happier  hours. — 

It  is  a  little  thing  to  speak  a  phrase 
Of  common  comfort  which  by  daily  use 
Has  almost  lost  its  sense,  yet  on  the  ear 
Of  him  who  thought  to  die  unmourned  'twill  fall 
Like  choicest  music. 

From  "Ion" — SIE  THOMAS  TALFOUED. 


TRUE  worth  is  in  being,  not  seeming, 

In  doing,  each  day  that  goes  by, 
Some  little  good;  not  in  dreaming 

Of  great  things  to  do  by  and  by. 
For  whatever  men  say  in  blindness, 

And  spite  of  the  fancies  of  youth, 
There's  nothing  so  kingly  as  kindness, 

And  nothing  so  royal  as  truth. 

ALICE    CAEY. 


WE  often  do  more  good  by  our  sympathy  than  by 
our  labors.  CANON  FAEEAE. 


I  WANT  it  to  be  said  of  me  by  those  who  know  me 
best  that  I  have  always  plucked  a  thistle  and  planted 
a  flower  in  its  pkce  wherever  a  flower  would  grow. 

ABEAHAM  LINCOLN. 


70       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 


COURAGE 

COURAGE  is  a  virtue  that  the  young  cannot  spare; 

To  lose  it  is  to  grow  old  before  the  time; 

It  is  better  to  make  a  thousand  mistakes  and  suff 
a  thousand  reverses  than  to  run  away  from  the  battle ; 

Resignation  is  the  courage  of  old  age ;  it  will  arrive 
in  its  own  season,  and  it  is  a  good  day  when  it  comes 
to  us. 

Then  there  are  no  more  disappointments,  for  we 
have  learned  that  it  is  even  better  to  desire  the  things 
that  we  have  than  to  have  the  things  that  we  desire. 

HENRY  VAN  DYKE. 

Courtesy  of  Charles  Scribner's  Sons. 

DAILY    NEED 

ABOVE  all,  that  I  may  not  be  a  coward!  That  I 
may  have  courage — courage  to  be  unmoved  by  the 
uncertainties  of  life,  and  without  dread  of  loss, 
whether  of  friends,  of  health  or  of  fortune.  That  I 
may  come  with  a  firm  and  tranquil  mind  to  the  work 
of  this  day, — fearing  nothing — ready  to  meet 
bravely,  failure  or  deprivation. 

JOHN    BRISBIN    WALKER. 

I  HAVE  learned  that  mistakes  can  often  be  set  right, 
that  anxieties  fade,  that  calamities  have  sometimes  a 
compensating  joy,  that  an  ambition  realized  is  nt 
always  pleasurable,  that  a  disappointment  is     fiei 


THE     BRIGHT     SIDE       71 

of  itself  a  rich  incentive  to  try  again.  One  learns 
to  look  over  troubles,  instead  of  looking  into  them, 
one  learns  that  hope  is  more  unconquerable  than  grief. 

ARTHUR  C.  BENSON. 

LIFE,  like  war,  is  a  series  of  mistakes,  and  he  is  not 
the  best  Christian  nor  the  best  General  who  makes 
the  fewest  false  steps.  He  is  the  best  who  wins  the 
most  splendid  victories  by  the  retrieval  of  mistakes. 
Forget  mistakes;  organize  victory  out  of  mistakes. 

F.  W.  ROBERTSON. 

IF  it  is  not  right,  do  not  do  it;  if  it  is  not  true, 
do  not  say  it.  MARCUS  AURELIUS. 


WORTH    THINKING    OF 

IF  we  sit  down  at  set  of  sun 
And  count  the  things  that  we  have  done, 

And   counting  find 
One  self-denying  act,  one  word 
That  eased  the  heart  of  him  who  heard, 

One  glance  most  kind, 
That  fell  like  sunshine  where  it  went, 
Then  we  may  count  the  day  well  spent. 

NOT  what  I  am,  but  what  I  do,  is  my  kingdom. 

MERRIMAN. 


72       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 


A    HOME    BLESSING 

THE  beauty  of  the  home  is  Order:  the  blessing  of 
the  home  is  Contentment:  the  glory  of  the  home  is 
Hospitality :  the  crown  of  the  home  is  Godliness :  the 
foundation  of  the  home  is  Love. 

From  the  GERMAN. 

Do   all   the   good   you   can, 
By  all  the  meaxis  you  can, 
In  all  the  places  you  can, 
At  all  the  times  you  can, 
As  long  as  ever  you  can. 

JOHN  WESLEY. 

THE     HEART'S    DOOR 

OPEN  the  door  of  your  heart,  my  friend, 

Heedless  of  class  or  creed, 
When  you  hear  the  cry  of  a  brother's  voice, 

The  sob  of  a  child  in  need. 

All  the  fadeless  flowers  that  bloom 

In  the  realms  of  song  and  art 
Are  yours,  if  you'll  only  give  them  room : 

Open  the  door  of  your  heart. 

To  the  shining  heavens  that  o'er  you  bend 
You  need  no  map  or  chart, 


THE     BRIGHT     SIDE       73 

But  only  the  love  the  Master  gave: 
Open  the  door  of  your  heart. 

E.   E.   HALE. 

So  long  as  we  love  we  serve;  so  long  as  we  are 
loved  by  others  I  would  almost  say  that  we  are  in- 
dispensable; and  no  man  is  useless  while  he  has  a 
friend.  STEVENSON. 

LET  nothing  disturb  thee; 
Nothing  affright  thee; 
All  things  are  passing; 
God  never  changeth. 

LONGFELLOW. 

LONG  live  the  man  whose  heart  is  fresh 
Who  smiles  beneath  the  darkest  skies; 

Who  to  this  weary  world  reveals 
The  humor  that  around  us  lies. 

w.  H.  WILSON  in  "FOUR  TRACK  NEWS". 

THE    WORLD    WITHIN 

As  thou  hast  made  thy  world  without, 
Make  thou  more  fair  my  world  within ; 

Shine  through  its  lingering  clouds  of  doubt; 
Rebuke  its  haunting  shapes  of  sin; 

Fill,  brief  or  long,  my  granted  span 

Of  life  with  love  to  thee  and  man ; 


74       THE     BRIGHT     SIDE 

Strike  when  thou  wilt  the  hour  of  rest, 
But  let  my  last  days  be  my  best ! 

WHITTIER. 

CAST  forth  thy  act,  thy  word,  into  the  ever-living, 
ever-working  universe;  it  is  a  seed-grain  that  cannot 

die.  THOMAS    CARLYLE. 

"HE  who  lives  for  himself  alone,  lives  for  a  very 
mean  fellow." 

"!F  you'd  help  the  world  a  bit, 

Do  as  you'd  be  done  by: 
If  you'd  help  to  brighten  it, 

Do  as  you'd  be  done  by ; 
If  you  have  a  blessing,  let 
Someone  share  it;  don't  forget, 
Selfishness  will  bring  regret; — 

Do  as  you'd  be  done  by." 

WHAT  think  you  the  earth  will  be  like  when  the 
majority  of  men  and  women  in  it  learn  that  to  be 
simple  and  honest  and  true  is  the  part  of  wisdom, 
and  that  to  work  for  Love  and  Beauty  is  the  highest 
good? 

THE    STRUGGLE 

FOR  the  right  against  the  wrong, 
For  the  weak  against  the  strong, 
For  the  poor  who've  waited  long, 
For  the  brighter  age  to  be. 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       75 

For  the  truth  'gainst  superstition, 
For  the  faith  against  tradition, 
For  the  hope  whose  glad  fruition, 
Our  waiting  eyes  shall  see. 

IT  is  not  by  regretting  what  is  irreparable  that  true 
work  is  to  be  done,  but  by  making  the  best  of  what 
we  are. 

It  is  not  by  complaining  that  we  have  not  the 
right  tools,  but  by  using  well  the  tools  we  have. 
What  we  are,  and  where  we  are,  is  God's  providential 
arrangement — God's  doing,  though  it  may  be  man's 
misdoing;  and  the  manly  and  the  wise  way  is  to 
look  your  disadvantages  in  the  face,  and  see  what 
can  be  made  out  of  them. 

F.    W.    ROBERTSON. 

NOTHING  is  so  contagious  as  enthusiasm;  it  is  the 
real  allegory  of  the  tale  of  Orpheus;  it  moves  stones, 
it  charms  brutes.  Enthusiasm  is  the  genius  of  sin- 
cerity, and  truth  accomplishes  no  victories  without  it. 

BULWER. 

IT'S  faith  in  something,  and  enthusiasm  for  it  that 
makes  a  life  worth  looking  at. 

HOLMES. 

BE  a  friend  to  yersel,  and  ithers  will. 

SCOTCH   PROVERB. 


76       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 


THE    BEST     DAY 

THE  calendar  sparkles 

With  days  that  have  brought 
Some  prize  that  was  longed  for 

Some  good  that  was  sought. 
High  deeds  happen  daily, 

Wide  truths  grow  more  clear, 
And  "each  day  is  the  best  day 

Of  somebody's  year." 

Each  day  finds  a  hero, 

Each  day  helps  a  saint, 
Each  day  brings  to  some  one 

A  joy  without  taint; 
Though  it  may  not  be  my  turn 

Or  yours  that  is  near — 
"Each  day  is  the  best  day 

Of  somebody's  year." 

LIVE  for  something.  Do  good  and  leave  behind 
you  a  monument  of  virtue  that  the  storm  of  time 
can  never  destroy.  Write  your  name  in  kindness, 
love,  and  mercy  on  the  hearts  of  thousands  you 
come  in  contact  with,  year  by  year;  you  will  never 
be  forgotten.  Your  name,  your  deeds,  will  be  as 
legible  on  the  hearts  you  leave  behind,  as  the  stars 
on  the  brow  of  evening.  Good  deeds  will  shine  as 
the  stars  of  heaven. 

CHALMERS. 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       77 


LIFE  is  a  work — begin  it, 
Life  is  a  battle — win  it. 

Life  is  a  pure  heart — shield  it. 
Life  is  a  sceptre — wield  it. 

Life  is  God's  lesson — learn  it, 
Death  is  His  good  rest — earn  it. 

WHAT    I    LIVE    FOR 

I  LIVE  for  those  who  love  me, 

Whose  hearts  are  kind  and  true, 
For  the  heaven  that  smiles  above  me, 

And  awaits  my  spirit,  too ; 
For  the  human  ties  that  bind  me, 
For  the  task  by  God  assigned  me, 
For  the  bright  hopes  left  behind  me, 

And  the  good  that  I  can  do. 

*          *          * 
I  live  for  those  who  love  me, 

For  those  who  know  me  true, 
For  the  heaven  that  smiles  above  me, 

And  awaits  my  spirit,  too; 
For  the  cause  that  lacks  assistance, 
For  the  wrong  that  needs  resistance, 
For  the  future  in  the  distance, 

And  the  good  that  I  can  do. 

GEORGE    I»    BANKS. 


78       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 


YOU    WILL    NOT     BE    SORRY 


FOR  hearing  before  judging,  for  thinking  before 
speaking,  for  holding  an  angry  tongue,  for  stopping 
the  ear  to  a  tale-bearer,  for  disbelieving  most  of  the 
ill  reports,  for  relieving  the  distressed,  for  being  kind 
to  everybody,  for  doing  good  to  all  men,  for  asking 
pardon  for  all  wrongs,  for  speaking  evil  of  no  one, 
for  being  courteous  to  all. 

FAR  away  there  in  the  sunshine  are  my  highest 
aspirations.  I  cannot  reach  them,  but  I  can  look  up 
and  see  their  beauty,  believe  in  them,  and  try  to 
follow  where  they  lead. 

LOUISA   MAY  ALCOTT. 

A    NOBLER    WAY 

To  live  and  learn,  to  ever  think  the  thought 

That  gives  a  richness  to  the  soul's  ideals, 
Is  better  far  than  letting  self,  when  sought, 

Become  supreme  in  all  one  thinks  and  feels. 
To  rise  above  the  sordid  quest  for  gain, 

And  strive  to  use  in  nobler  ways  the  soul, 
Which  finds  its  bent,  its  true,  divinest  aim 

In  pressing  upward,  never  downward,  towards  its 
goal. 

REV.     JAMES    ALLISON    BARNES,     in    the    "RELIGIOUS 

TELESCOPE". 


THE     BRIGHT     SIDE       79 

I  AM  not  bound  to  win,  but  I  am  bound  to  be 
true;  I  am  not  bound  to  succeed,  but  I  am  bound 
to  live  up  to  the  light  I  have.  I  must  stand  with 
anybody  that  stands  right,  stand  with  him  while  he 
is  right,  and  part  with  him  when  he  goes  wrong. 

LINCOLN. 

IT  is  not  work  that  kills  men,  it  is  worry.  Work 
is  healthy.  You  can  hardly  put  more  upon  a  man 
than  he  can  bear.  Worry  is  rust  upon  the  blade.  It 
is  not  the  revolution  that  destroys  the  machinery,  but 
the  friction.  BEECHER. 

THERE  is  always  something  to  worry  about,  if  you 
only  take  the  trouble  to  find  it.  And  some  people 
never  think  of  anything  else. 

SOMERVILLE  "JOURNAL". 

LIVE    IT    DOWN 

"HAS  your  heart  a  bitter  sorrow? 

Live  it  down. 
Think  about  a  glad  tomorrow 

And  live  it  down. 
You  will  find  it  never  pays, 
Just  to  sit,  wet-eyed,  and  gaze 
On  the  grave  of  vanished  days 

Live  it  down. 


80       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 

Have  you  made  some  awful  error? 

Live  it  down. 
Do  not  hide  your  face  in  terror, 

But  live  it  down. 

Look  the  world  square  in  the  eyes ; 
Go  ahead  as  one  who  tries 
To  be  honored  ere  he  dies. 

Live  it  down." 


To  work,  to  help  and  to  be  helped,  to  learn  sym- 
pathy through  suffering,  to  learn  faith  by  perplexity, 
to  reach  truth  through  wonder, — behold!  this  is  what 
it  is  to  prosper,  this  is  what  it  is  to  live. 

PHILLIPS    BROOKS. 


DON'T  waste  life  in  doubts  and  fears;  spend  your- 
self on  the  work  before  you,  well  assured  that  the 
right  performance  of  this  hour's  duties  will  be  the 
best  preparation  for  the  hours  or  ages  that  follow  it. 

EMERSON. 


LIFE  is  a  good  deal  of  a  puzzle ;  but  if  we  were  more 
resolute  in  our  determination  to  enrich  it  by  worthy 
service  than  we  are  in  our  desire  to  solve  its  mysteries, 
we  should  be  happier.  If  we  put  more  into  it,  we 
should  get  more  out  of  it. 

"EPWORTH  HERALD." 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       81 


SOMEBODY 

SOMEBODY  did  a  golden  deed; 
Somebody  proved  a  friend  in  need; 
Somebody  sang  a  beautiful  song; 
Somebody  smiled  the  whole  day  long; 
Somebody  thought,  "  'Tis  sweet  to  live;" 
Somebody  said,  "I'm  glad  to  give;" 
Somebody  fought  a  valiant  fight; 
Somebody  lived  to  shield  the  right. 
Was  that  somebody  you? 

UNCLE  EZRA  says:  "It  is  doubtful  ef  the  man 
who  hez  a  good  deal  to  be  thankful  fur  would  be  any 
more  thankful  ef  he  hed  a  good  deal  more." 

BOSTON  "HERALD". 

IT  is  worth  a  great  deal  to  have  the  companionship 
of  people  whose  whole  atmosphere  is  one  of  helpful- 
ness and  good  cheer,  who  help  us  to  keep  our  ideals 
high,  and  who  will  not  let  us  trouble  our  thoughts 
with  petty  worries  or  with  the  things  that  are  un- 
worthy. 

COURTESY  is  the  cheapest  thing  in  the  world,  and 
goes  the  farthest.  c.  R.  s. 

LIFE  is  not  so  short  but  that  there  is  always  time 
enough  for  courtesy.  EMERSON. 


82       THE     BRIGHT     SIDE 
LITTLE    THINGS    OF    LIFE 

WHY  is  it  that  we  so  easily  forget  that  the  little 
things  of  life  are  what  make  it  easy  or  hard?  A 
few  pleasant  words,  a  warm  handclasp,  a  cordial 
letter,  are  simple  things,  but  they  are  mighty  in 
their  influence  on  the  lives  of  those  about  us,  adding 
a  ray  of  hope  to  many  disconsolate  hearts,  giving  a 
bit  of  courage  to  disappointed,  weary  ones,  and  help- 
ing to  make  our  own  lives  sweeter  at  the  same  time. 
Few  people  realize  how  much  the  little  attentions  of 
everyday  life  mean  to  their  associates  in  the  home, 
the  church,  the  business  place.  Remember  that  the 
little  things  in  life,  whether  good  or  bad,  count  for 
more  with  those  who  love  than  we  ever  know,  and 
we  should  be  watchful  of  our  actions  and  our  words. 


EVERY  day  is  a  fresh  beginning, 
Every  morn  is  the  world  made  new; 

You  who  are  weary  of  sorrow  and  sinning, 
Here  is  a  beautiful  hope  for  you; 
A  hope  for  me  and  a  hope  for  you. 


REFLECT  upon  your  present  blessings  of  which 
every  man  has  many,  not  on  your  past  misfortunes 
of  which  all  men  have  some. 

DICKENS. 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       83 

"Do  not  keep  the  alabaster  boxes  of  your  love  and 
tenderness  sealed  up  until  your  friends  are  gone.  Fill 
their  lives  with  sweetness.  Speak  approving,  cheer- 
ing words  while  their  ears  can  hear  them,  and  while 
their  hearts  can  be  thrilled  and  made  happier  by  them. 
The  kind  things  you  meant  to  say  when  they  are 
gone,  say  before  they  go.  Send  flowers  to  brighten 
and  sweeten  their  homes  before  they  leave  them.  If 
my  friends  have  alabaster  boxes  laid  away,  full  of 
fragrant  perfumes  of  sympathy  and  affection,  I  would 
rather  they  would  bring  them  out  in  my  weary  and 
troubled  hours,  and  open  them,  that  I  may  be  re- 
freshed and  cheered  while  I  need  them." 

LIFE  is  too  short  to  waste, 

*         *         * 

'Twill  soon  be  dark ; 
Up!  mind  thine  own  aim,  and 
God  speed  the  mark ! 

EMERSON. 

THACKERAY'S     CREED. 

(On  re-reading  his  letters.) 

A  WILLING  kindness, 

A  ready  trust; 
A  bit  of  blindness 

To  moth  and  rust. 


84       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 


A  balm  of  laughter 
For  anger's  heat ; 

A  brave  heart  after 
A  sore  defeat. 


A  glad  hope,  cleaving 

To  each  new  day; 
A  patience,  leaving 

No  stony  way. 

A  warm  faith,  summing 

All  life  worth  while — 
Yet,  at  death's  coming 

A  fearless  smile. 

CHARLOTTE    BECKER. 


To  watch  the  corn  grow,  or  the  blossoms  set ; 
To  draw  hard  breath  over  plowshare  or  spade ; 
To  read,  to  think,  to  love,  to  pray, — these  are  the 
things  that  make  men  happy. 

JOHN    BUSKIN. 


"  "Tis  being  and  doing  and  having  that  make 

All  the  pleasures  and  pains  of  which  mankind  partake; 

To  be  what  God  pleases,  to  do  a  man's  best, 

And  to  have  a  good  heart,  is  the  way  to  be  blest." 

LORD  BYRON. 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       85 


LIFE 

LIFE  is  too  short  to  fuss  and  fret, 
To  waste  the  hours  in  vain  regret, 
To  fancy  slights,  to  bother  why 
This  listener  gave  a  vague  reply, 
Or  that  one  made  some  jesting  threat. 

And  though  dull  cares  our  ways  beset, 
To  court  indifference,  and  let 

Each  proffered  bit  of  joy  slip  by — 
Life  is  too  short! 

But,  put  the  world  for  mirth  in  debt, 
And  strive  that  odds  be  gayly  met ; 
Humor  in  every  cross  espy, 
And  no  least  plea  for  cheer  deny — 
Then,  for  the  happiness  we  get, 
Life  is  too  short! 

CHARLOTTE  BECKER   in   N.  Y.   "SUN". 

A     RECIPE     FOR     PESSIMISM 

LIVE  in  the  passive  voice ;  be  intent  on  what  you  can 
get  rather  than  on  what  you  can  do.  Live  in  the  sub- 
junctive mood,  meditating  on  what  might  be  rather 
than  what  actually  is.  Live  in  the  third  person,  find- 
ing fault  with  other  people  instead  of  setting  your 
own  affairs  in  order,  and  prescribing  their  duties 


86       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 

rather  than  attending  to  your  own.  Live  in  the  plural 
number,  following  the  opinions  and  standards  of 
respectability  of  other  people  rather  than  your  own 
perception  of  what  is  fit  and  proper.  Keep  these 
rules  faithfully,  always  measuring  the  worth  of  life 
in  terms  of  personal  pleasure  rather  than  in  terms 
of  growth  of  character,  of  service,  of  high  ends — and 
you  will  be  a  pessimist  before  you  know  it. 

PRESIDENT  HYDE  OF   BOWDOIN   COLLEGE. 

BE  sure  and  look  ahead. 

JOHN    D.    ROCKEFELLER. 

IT  is  a  good  and  safe  rule  to  sojourn  in  every  place, 
as  if  you  meant  to  spend  your  life  there,  never  omit- 
ting an  opportunity  of  doing  a  kindness,  or  speaking 
a  true  word,  or  making  a  friend. 

RUSKIX. 

CREED     WORTH      BELIEVING 

A  CHURCH  prints  on  the  back  of  its  program  of 
services  these  words: 

I  will  not  worry. 

I  will  not  be  afraid. 

I  will  not  give  way  to  anger. 

I  will  be  kind  to  every  man,  woman  and  child  with 
whom  I  come  in  contact. 

I  will  be  cheerful  and  hopeful. 

I  will  trust  in  God  and  bravely  face  the  future. 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       87 

DON'T    LET     THE     SONG     GO 
OUT    OF     YOUR    LIFE 

DON'T  let  the  song  go  out  of  your  life ; 

Though  it  chance  sometimes  to  flow 
In  a  minor  strain,  it  will  blend  again 

With  the  major  tone,  you  know. 
What  though  shadows  rise  to  obscure  life's  skies, 

And  hide  for  a  time  the  sun ; 
They  sooner  will  lift,  and  reveal  the  rift, 

If  you  let  the  melody  run. 

#          *          # 
Don't  let  the  song  go  out  of  your  life ; 

Ah!  it  never  would  need  to  go, 
If  with  thought  more  true  and  a  broader  view 

We  looked  at  this  life  below. 

Oh!  Why  should  we  moan  that  life's  springtime  has 
flown, 

Or  sigh  for  the  fair  summer  time? 
The  autumn  hath  days  filled  with  paeans  of  praise, 

And  the  winter  hath  bells  that  chime. 

KATE     E.     STILES. 

WE  live  in  deeds,  not  years :  in  thoughts  not  breaths : 
In  feelings,  not  in  figures  on  a  dial. 
We  should  count  time  by  heart  throbs.     He  most  lives 
Who  thinks  most,  feels  the  noblest,  acts  the  best. 

BAILEY. 


88       THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 


WILL    NOT     GROW     OLD 

IT  was  an  old  distorted  face 

An  uncouth  visage  rough  and  wild, 

Yet  from  behind  with  laughing  grace, 
Peeped  the  fresh  beauty  of  a  child. 

*  *          * 

Behind  gray  hairs  and  furrowed  brow 
And  withered  look  that  life  puts  on 

Each  as  he  wears  it,  comes  to  know 
How  the  child  hides  and  is  not  gone. 

*  *•          * 

For  while  the  inexorable  years 

To  saddened  features  fit  their  mould. 

Beneath  the  work  of  time  and  tears 

Waits  something  that  will  not  grow  old. 


SOMETHING    EACH     DAY 

SOMETHING  each  day — a  word. 

We  cannot  know  its  power; 
It  grows  in  fruitfulness 

As  grows  the  gentle  shower. 
What  comfort  it  may  bring, 

Where  all  is  dark  and  drear! 
For  a  kind  word  every  day 

Makes  pleasant  all  the  year. 


THE     BRIGHT     SIDE       89 

Something  each  day — a  deed 

Of  kindness  and  of  good, 
To  link  in  closer  bonds 

All  human  brotherhood. 
Oh,  thus  the  heavenly  will 

We  all  may  do  while  here, 
For  a  good  deed  every  day 

Makes  blessed  all  the  year. 

"SOUTHERN  CHURCHMAN". 

THERE  is  a  destiny  which  makes  us  brothers, — 

None  goes  his  way  alone; 
All  that  we  send  into  the  lives  of  others, 

Comes  back  into  our  own. 

EDWIN   MARKHAM. 

D  O  N'T     WORRY 

WHEN  things  go  contrary,  as  often  they  do, 
And  fortune  seems  burdened  with  spite, 

Don't  give  way  to  grieving  all  dismal  and  blue — 
That  never  set  anything  right! 

But  cheerfully  face  what  the  day  may  reveal ! 
Make  the  best  of  whatever  befall ; 

Since  the  more  that  you  worry  the  worse  you  must  feel, 

Why  waste  time  in  worry  at  all? 
We  all  have  our  troubles,  some  more  and  some  less, 

And  this  is  the  knowledge  we  gain — 
It's  work  and  a  brave  heart  that  lighten  the  stress 


90       THE     BRIGHT     SIDE 

Of  a  life's  share  of  sorrow  and  pain. 
Then  face  with  this  knowledge  fate's  crudest  deal 

Too  plucky  to  faint  or  to  fall ; 
Since  the  more  that  you  worry  the  worse  you  must  feel, 

Is  it  wisdom  to  worry  at  all? 

UIPLEY  D.  SAUNDERS. 

JUST     TO     BE     TENDER 

JUST  to  be  tender,  just  to  be  true, 
Just  to  be  glad  the  whole  day  through, 
Just  to  be  merciful,  just  to  be  mild, 
Just  to  be  trustful  with  faith  like  a  child, 
Just  to  be  gentle  and  kind  and  sweet, 
Just  to  be  helpful  with  willing  feet, 
Just  to  be  cheery  when  things  go  wrong, 
Just  to  drive  sadness  away  with  song, 
Whether  the  hour  is  dark  or  bright, 
Just  to  be  loyal  to  God  and  right, 
Just  to  believe  that  God  knows  best, 
Just  in  His  promises  ever  to  rest — 
Just  to  let  love  sound  its  sweetest  key, 
That  is  God's  will  for  you  and  for  me. 

DUTY 

THIS  truth  comes  to  us  more  and  more  the  longer 
we  live — that  on  what  field  or  in  what  uniform  or  with 
what  aims  we  do  our  duty — matters  very  little,  or  even 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       91 

what  our  duty  is,  great  or  small,  splendid  or  obscure 

only  to  find  our  duty  certainly,  and  somewhere, 

somehow,  to  do  it  faithfully,  makes  us  good,  strong, 
happy  and  useful  men,  and  tunes  our  lives  into  some 
feeble  echo  of  the  life  of  God. 

PHILLIPS   BROOKS. 

CONTENTMENT 

LET  us  learn  to  be  content  with  what  we  have.  Let 
us  get  rid  of  our  false  estimates,  set  up  all  the  higher 
ideals — a  quiet  home;  vines  of  our  own  planting;  a 
few  books  full  of  the  inspiration  of  a  genius;  a  few 
friends  worthy  of  being  loved,  and  able  to  love  us  in 
turn;  a  hundred  innocent  pleasures  that  bring  no 
pain  or  remorse;  a  devotion  to  the  right  that  will 
never  swerve;  a  simple  religion  empty  of  all  bigotry, 
full  of  trust  and  hope  and  love — and  to  such  a  philos- 
ophy this  world  will  give  up  all  the  empty  joy  it  has. 

DAVID  SWING. 


MY     SYMPHONY 


To  live  content  with  small  means ;  to  seek  elegance 
rather  than  luxury,  and  refinement  rather  than  fash- 
ion; to  be  worthy,  not  respectable,  and  wealthy,  not 
rich;  to  study  hard,  think  quietly,  talk  gently,  act 
frankly;  to  listen  to  stars  and  birds,  to  babes  and 
sages,  with  open  heart;  to  bear  all  cheerfully,  do  all 


92       THE     BRIGHT     SIDE 

bravely,  await  occasions,  hurry  never;  ...  in  a 
word,  to  let  the  spiritual,  unbidden  and  unconscious, 
grow  up  through  the  common, — this  is  to  be  my 
symphony. 

WFLIJAM   HENKY   CHANNING. 

SOWER     AND     SEED 

A  KINDLY  word  and  a  kindly  deed, 
A  helpful  hand  in  time  of  need, 

With  a  strong,  true  heart, 

To  do  his  part — 

Thus  went  the  sower  out  with  his  seed, 
Nor  stayed  in  his  toil  to  name  his  creed. 
»         *         * 

Feeling  for  others,  bearing  their  pain, 
Freeing  the  fetters,  undoing  the  chain, 
From  sorrow  and  tears, 
He  wrought  the  bright  years — 
Still  unknown  to  rank,  and  unknown  to  fame, 
In  letters  of  light  God  writeth  his  name. 

"HOME  CHAT". 

THE  little  things  which  you  may  do  for  those  about 
you  will  fall  back  upon  your  heart  as  the  summer 
dews  fall  upon  vineyards.  Who  knows  what  a  cloud 
of  darkness  one  kind  word  may  dispel?  Wear  a 
smile  and  make  others  happy.  There  is  no  joy  so 
great  as  that  which  springs  from  a  kind  act  or  a 
pleasant  deed. 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE       93 


LOOK     PLEASANT 


AND  it  pays  every  time  to  be  kindly, 

Although  you  feel  worried  and  blue ; 
If  you  smile  at  the  world  and  look  cheerful, 

The  world  will  soon  smile  back  at  you. 
So  try  to  brace  up  and  look  pleasant, 

No  matter  how  low  you  are  down, 
Good  humor  is  always  contagious, 

But  you  banish  your  friends  when  you  frown. 

To  You,  my  cheerful  friend ! — To  You !  who  seem 
to  be  an  exquisite  architect,  forever  building  up  the 
castle  of  happiness  out  of  all  the  losses  and  crosses 
and  wrecks  and  ruins  that  fate  may  throw  about  you : 
— to  you  who  can  always  see  the  silver  lining  to  every 
cloud,  who  can  conceal  your  sorrows  and  share  your 
joys  and  laugh  and  sing,  and  be  content,  and  still 
keep  up  the  fight  till  life's  rugged  journey  ends. 
'Here's  to  you! 

JOSEPH  D.  HOUSTON. 

YOUR     KINGDOM 

THERE  is  some  place  for  you  to  fill, 

Some  work  for  you  to  do, 
That  no  one  can  or  ever  will 

Do  quite  as  well  as  you. 


94       THE     BRIGHT     SIDE 

It  may  be  close  along  your  way, 

Some  little,  homely  duty, 
That  only  waits  your  touch,  your  sway, 

To  blossom  into  beauty. 

Or  it  may  be  that  daily  tasks, 

Cheerfully  seen  and  done, 
Will  lead  to  greater  work  that  asks 

For  you,  and  you  alone. 

Be  brave,  whatever  it  may  be, 

The  little  or  the  great, 
To  meet  and  do  it  perfectly, 

And  you  have  conquered  fate. 

DO  SOMETHING  FOR 
SOMEBODY 

Do  something  for  somebody,  somewhere, 
While  jogging  along  life's  road; 

Help  some  one  to  carry  his  burden, 
And  lighter  will  grow  your  load. 

Do  something  for  somebody  gladly, 

'Twill  sweeten  your  every  care ; 

In  sharing  the  sorrows  of  others, 

Your  own  are  less  hard  to  bear. 

Do  something  for  somebody,  striving 
To  help  where  the  way  seems  long ; 


THE    BRIGHT    SIDE       95 

And  the  homeless  hearts  that  languish 
Cheer  up  with  a  little  song. 

Do  something  for  somebody  always, 

Whatever  may  be  your  creed: — 
There's  nothing  on  earth  can  help  you 

So  much  as  a  kindly  deed. 

KEY.   J.   S.    CUTLER   in  "UNIVERSALIST   LEADER". 

A    HELPFUL     TOUCH 

As  we  meet  and  touch  each  day 
The  many  travellers  on  our  way, 
Let  each  such  brief  contact  be 
A  glorious,  helpful  ministry; 
The  contact  of  the  soil  and  seed, 
Each  giving  to  the  other's  need; 
Each  helping  on  the  other's  best, 
And  blessing  each,  as  well  as  blest. 

"FORWARD". 

THE    BEST    FAITH 

I  DEEM  his  faith  the  best 

Who  daily  puts  it  into  loving  deeds, 
Done  for  the  poor,  the  sorrowing  and  the  oppressed; 

For  these  are  more  than  creeds, 
And  though  a  blinded  reason  oft  may  err, 
The  heart  that  loves  is  faith's  interpreter. 

EDWARD   PAYSON   POWELL. 


96       THE     BRIGHT     SIDE 

HARMONY     CLUB     OF     AMERICA 

AN  independent  organization  of  earnest  people 
everywhere,  who  want  to  make  the  most  of  life  and  to 
be  happy  while  doing  it.  The  aim  is:  To  harmonize 
people  with  themselves,  their  surroundings  and  each 
other ;  to  prove  the  efficient  value  of  a  smile  and  song 
in  everyday  life;  to  establish  the  perfect  unity  of 
body,  mind,  heart,  and  spirit;  to  investigate,  formu- 
late, and  demonstrate  the  scientific  laws  of  Happi- 
ness; to  enunciate  the  principles  of  wholesome,  tri- 
umphant, sincere  living;  to  maintain  a  brotherhood 
of  individuals,  where  sympathy  is  the  only  bond; 
to  promote  free  discussion  of  every  subject  that  makes 
for  clear  understanding  of  life.  Literature  mailed  on 
request.  Headquarters  at  30  Church  Street,  New 
York  City. 


HARMONY  CLUB  RESOLVE 

To  create  happiness  in  myself  and  others. 

I  will  keep  a  strong  body  for  the  work  I  have  to 
do ;  a  loving  heart  for  those  about  me ;  a  clear  mind 
for  all  truth,  whose  recognition  brings  freedom;  a 
poised,  unconquerable  soul  for  the  ideal  whose  cham- 
pion I  declare  myself 

And  I  will  possess  a  faith  mighty  enough  to  rout 
anxiety,  ride  over  difficulty,  challenge  hardship,  smile 


THE    BRIGHT    SIDE       97 


through  grief,  deny  failure,  see  only  victory,  looking 
to  the  end ;  by  which  hopeful  assurance  now  attuned, 
I  am  at  peace  with  myself,  the  world,  and  the  Infinite. 

"HARMONY    at    the    center    radiates    happiness 
throughout  the  whole  sphere  of  life." 

Qua  content  is  our  best  having. 

SHAKESPEARE. 

FOR  every  happy  smile,  the  world 
Whirls  on  its  way  with  less  of  care. 


TO     LIVE 

MOST  of  the  things  that  worry  us 

Don't  matter  much. 
Too  many  of  us  fret  and  fuss 

At  every  touch; 

There's  nothing  that's  of  great  concern, 
Except  to  live,  and  love,  and  learn. 

Suppose  the  world  don't  go  our  way, 

What  of  it  then? 
We  have  the  better  chance  to-day 

To  act  like  men ; 
And  still  insist  at  every  turn 
We're  here  to  live,  and  love,  and  learn. 


98       THE     BRIGHT     SIDE 

It  isn't  doing  what  we  would 

That  counts  for  most; 
It's  being  brave  and  kind  and  good, 

Amid  the  host; 

For  better  than  to  crave  and  yearn, 
Is  just  to  live,  and  love,  and  learn. 

We  make  too  much  of  feast  and  joy 

And  sordid  gain; 
The  things  that  vex  us  and  annoy, 

The  toil  and  pain, 
And  every  malady  we  spurn 
May  help  us  live,  and  love,  and  learn. 

And  there  is  nothing  else  to  fear, 

Of  good  or  ill, 
Than  just  the  failure  of  good  cheer, 

And  honest  will; 

No  loss  need  fright  us  if  we  earn 
More  power  to  live,  and  love,  and  learn. 

TRUE  wisdom  consists  not  in  seeing  what  is  im- 
mediately before  our  eyes,  but  in  foreseeing  what 
is  to  come.  TERENCE. 

No  man  is  born  into  the  world  whose  work  is  not 
born  with  him.  LOWELL. 

WHAT  shall  I  do  to  be  forever  known? — 

Thy  duty  ever.  JOHANK  VON  SCHILLER. 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 


SERVICE 

ONLY  a  word  of  warning, 

Spoken  in  fear; 
Only  a  prayer  at  the  dawning, 

Only  a  tear. 

Only  a  pencilled  letter, 

Written  in  pain; 
Only  a  sad  one  encouraged 

To  start  again. 

Only  a  bright  "Good  morning" 

To  those  we  meet; 
Only  a  lame  one  assisted 

Across  the  street. 

Only  helping  a  school  boy 

His  task  to  learn ; 
Only  showing  a  stranger 

The  way  to  turn. 

Only  reading  a  chapter 

To  some  one  blind; 
Only  leaving  a  sparkle 

Of  light  behind. 

Only  shading  the  window 
For  some  one  ill; 


100     THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 


Only  an  offer  to  keep 
The  bairnies  still. 

Only  placing  some  violets 

Beside  the  bed; 
Only  the  pillow  turned 

For  the  aching  head. 

THEODORA  PLEDGE,  in  the  LONDON  "CHRISTIAN*'. 

NOTHING  worth  doing  can  be  done  with  doubt  and 
despair  in  the  foreground.  The  slightest  undertak- 
ing is  helped  by  a  sure  faith  in  its  success.  If  you 
do  not  feel  that  you  can  win  in  what  you  set  out  to 
do,  this  lack  of  faith  itself  may  cause  you  needless 
defeat.  In  periods  of  gloom  it  is  well  to  remember 
that  no  two  days  are  just  alike,  and  that,  as  Richter 
says,  "Laughing  cheerfulness  throws  the  light  of 
day  on  all  around." 

LOOK    AT     THE     BRIGHT     SIDE 

LEAJLN  to  look  at  the  bright  side,  the  good  things 
in  life.  Do  not  let  the  shadow  of  discouragement 
and  despondency  fall  on  your  path.  Never  doubt 
for  a  moment  that  everything  will  turn  out  for  the 
best  in  the  end.  If  you  believe  firmly  in  yourself 
you  will  be  given  the  strength  to  do  some  day  what 
may  now  seem  to  be  impossible.  Your  effort  and 
success  will  accord  with  the  amount  of  faith  and  hope 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE     101 


you  put  into  your  work.  Do  not  anticipate  trouble. 
Cut  out  all  anxiety  and  advance  fearlessly  and 
bravely.  Take  the  road  and  it  will  lead  you  to  the 
goal,  though  strewn  with  difficulties.  Don't  fret  and 
give  up  in  despair  if  you  don't  "arrive"  as  soon  as 
you  would  like  to;  all  progress,  of  the  best  kind,  is 
slow ;  but  to  him  who  works  faithfully  and  in  a  right 
spirit  will  be  given  the  reward  in  good  time.  Hold 
up  your  head  and  look  the  world  in  the  face;  hold 
your  ground  and  march  bravely  forward,  over  all 
obstacles,  and  the  world  will  make  way  for  you. 
"They  can  who  think  they  can." 

GEORGE  F.  BUTLER,  A.  M.,  M.  D.  in  N.  Y.  "GLOBE". 

FOR  an  empty  crown  is  a  bauble, 

And  he  is  a  sovereign  alone 
Who  lives  to  bring  joy  unto  others, 

And  to  make  their  trouble  his  own. 

LUCY   LARCOM. 

MY     CREED 

You  ask  me  to  what  church  I  pin  my  faith. 

To  none,  and  yet  I  love  God's  temple,  and 
My  life  is  shaped  and  molded  to  a  creed 

So  simple  that  a  child  may  understand. 

I  love  the  living  Source  of  all  that's  fair 
And  beautiful  on  earth  and  sky  and  sea. 


102     THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 


I  love  my  fellow  being,  and  I  try 

To  do  as  I  would  have  them  do  by  me. 

I  think  if  we  reach  out  a  helping  hand 

To  those  who  faint  and  falter  by  the  way — 

If  by  our  sympathy  and  kindly  aid 

Some  sorrowing  heart  finds  happiness  each  day. 

And  if  we  ever  carry  in  our  hands 

The  mantle  of  sweet  charity  and  grace 

To  shield  the  weak  and  erring  ones  of  earth 
And  lift  them  up  to  a  securer  place, 

Then  I  believe  if  our  incautious  feet 

Should  wander  out  where  thorns  and  thistles  grow, 
He  still  would  follow  us  with  boundless  love 

And  lead  us  where  the  living  waters  flow. 

BOSTON  "TRANSCRIPT". 

IT     MAY    BE     MINE 

"!T  may  be  mine  to  miss  abounding  health; 
It  may  be  mine  to  miss  the  clue  to  wealth : 
I  may  be  blind  to  much  I  long  to  see. 
My  hand  be  numb  to  what  is  offered  me. 
I  may  be  deaf  to  music's  sweetest  chords ; 
My  life  may  lack  endeavors'  high  rewards ; 
It  may  be  mine  to  walk  life's  way  alone; 
It  may  be  mine  to  die  unfamed,  unknown. 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE     103 


But  if  I  miss  some  things  my  heart  could  crave, 

It  may  be  mine  some  wanderer  to  save, 

To  strengthen  one  who  else  had  gone  astray. 

To  lead  another  in  an  upward  way, 

To  hearten  one  upon  a  couch  of  pain, 

And  thus  to  know  I  have  not  lived  in  vain." 

SUPPOSE  YOU  TRY  SMILING 

YOUR  burden  is  heavy,  I  haven't  a  doubt. 
But  others  have  loads  they  must  carry  about, 

And  they  are  not  whining. 
Some  people  are  glad  if  but  half  of  the  way 
Lies  out  of  the  shadow,  or  part  of  the  day. 

They  see  the  sun  shining. 

Suppose  you  try  smiling. 

I  know  you  are  lonely,  but  other  hearts  ache, 
And  bravely  refuse  to  be  bitter  or  break 

Because  of  life's  sorrow. 
They  think  of  the  joy  in  the  land  far  away, 
And  hasten  the  slow  passing  hours  of  today, 

With  hopes  of  tomorrow. 

Suppose  you  try  smiling. 

This  funny  old  world  is  a  mirror,  you  know, 
Turn  its  way  with  a  sneer,  or  face  of  a  foe 

And  you  will  see  trouble. 
But  meet  it  with  laughter  and  looks  full  of  cheer, 


104     THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 


And  back  will  come  sunshine  and  love  true  and  dear 
Your  blessing  to  double. 

Suppose  you  try  smiling. 

» 
All  places  are  open  to  those  who  are  glad, 

Too  many  lack  courage,  too  many  are  sad ; 
Those  near  you  need  cheering. 
So  sing  with  your  burden,  the  way  is  not  long, 
And  if  you  look  upward  your  heart  will  grow  strong. 
And  skies  will  be  clearing^ 

Suppose  you  try  smiling. 

D  O  N'T     WAIT 

IP  you've  anything  good  to  say  of  a  man, 

Don't  wait  till  he's  laid  to  rest, 
For  the  eulogy  spoken  when  hearts  are  broken 

Is  an  empty  thing  at  best. 
Ah,  the  blighted  flower  now  drooping  lonely 

Would  perfume  the  mountain  side, 
If  the  sun's  glad  ray  had  but  shone  today 

And  the  pretty  bud  espied. 
*          *          * 

Don't  wait  for  another  to  bear  the  burden 

Of  sorrow's  irksome  load; 
Let  your  hand  extend  to  a  stricken  friend 

As  he  totters  adown  life's  road. 
And  if  you've  anything  good  to  say  of  a  man, 
Don't  wait  till  he's  laid  at  rest ; 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE     105 


For  the  eulogy  spoken  when  hearts  are  broken 
Is  an  empty  thing  at  best. 

S.  E.  RISER  in  CHICAGO  "RECORD-HERALD.' 

Published  by  Permission. 

IF  you  have  a  friend  worth  loving 
Love  him. — Yes,  and  let  him  know 

That  you  love  him,  ere  life's  evening" 
Tinge  his  brow  with  sunset  glow. 

Why  should  good  words  ne'er  be  said 

Of  a  friend — till  he  is  dead? 


HAPPINESS 

IF  thou  workest  at  that  which  is  before  thee,  fol- 
lowing right  reason  seriously,  vigorously,  calmly, 
without  allowing  anything  else  to  distract  thee,  but 
keeping  thy  divine  part  pure,  if  thou  shouldst  be 
bound  to  give  it  back  immediately ;  if  thou  boldest 
to  this,  expecting  nothing,  fearing  nothing,  but 
satisfied  with  thy  present  activity  according  to 
nature,  and  with  heroic  truth  in  every  word  and 
sound  which  thou  utterest,  thou  wilt  live  happy.  And 
there  is  no  man  who  is  able  to  prevent  this. 

MARCUS  AURELIUS 

LIVES  of  great  men  all  remind  us, 
We  may  make  our  lives  sublime ; 
And,  departing,  leave  behind  us, 


106     THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 

Footprints  on  the  sands  of  time: 
Footprints,  that  perhaps  another 

Travelling  o'er  life's  solemn  main: 
Some  forlorn  and  shipwrecked  brother, 

Seeing,  may  take  heart  again. 

LONGFELLOW 

POLITENESS    is    like    an    air    cushion.     There 
nothing  in  it,  but  it  eases  the  jolts  wonderfully. 

WHAT  is  the  work  I  have  done  today? 
Have  I  left  a  mark  upon  the  way, 
A  kindly  word,  or  a  cheery  smile 
That  has  lingered  in  some  heart  awhile ; 
Straightened  a  path  or  a  crooked  road, 
Lightened  the  weight  of  a  weary  load, 
Into  the  shadow  of  some  one's  night 
Sent  even  a  tiny  ray  of  light  ? 

MAXWELL'S  TALISMAN 

SOMEWHERE 

'Tis  always  morning  somewhere,  little  heart; 

Somewhere  the  sky  is  ever  fair  and  blue, 
No  night  can  wrap  in  darkness  all  the  world, 

Some  rift  the  sun  is  ever  shining  through. 

There's  always  happiness  somewhere,  sad  heart; 
Somewhere  are  always  love  and  hope  and  cheer, 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE     107 

No  sorrow  can  forever  hide  God's  smile, 
No  life  is  toil  and  grief  from  birth  to  bier. 

Look  up  and  bide  with  patience,  then,  dear  heart, 
The  sacred  promise  of  the  dawn  is  true, 

Beyond  the  cloud  a  glad  new  day  shall  rise, 
And  what  of  joy  is  yours  willl  come  to  you. 

JESSIE   C.    GLASIER 

REST  is  not  quitting 

This  busy  career, 
Rest  is  the  fitting 

Of  life  to  its  sphere. 

GOETHE 

ABOU     BEN     ADHEM 

ABOTT  BEN  ADHEM  (may  his  tribe  increase) 

Awoke  one  night  from  a  deep  dream  of  peace, 

And  saw  within  the  moonlight  of  his  room, 

Making  it  rich  and  like  a  lily  in  bloom, 

An  angel  writing  in  a  book  of  gold. 

Exceeding  peace  had  made  Ben  Adhem  bold, 

And  to  the  presence  in  the  room  he  said: 

"What  writest  thou?" — The  vision  raised  its  head, 

And,  with  a  look  made  of  all  sweet  accord, 

Answered:  "The  names  of  those  who  love  the  Lord." 

"And  is  mine  one?"  said  Abou.    "Nay,  not  so," 
Replied  the  angel. — Abou  spoke  more  low, 


108     THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 


But  cheerily  still ;  and  said :  "I  pray  thee,  then, 
Write  me  as  one  that  loves  his  fellow  men." 

The  angel  wrote  and  vanished.     The  next  night 
It  came  again,  with  a  great  wakening  light, 
And  showed  the  names  whom  love  of  God  had  blessed, 
And,  lo !  Ben  Adhem's  name  led  all  the  rest ! 

LEIGH    HUNT 

MY     GOAL 

I  MAY  not  strive  to  reach  the  heights, 
My  place  is  lowly  and  obscure ; 
But  if  at  night  I  can  recall 
One  helpful  deed,  however  small ; 
If  some  bright  word  I  may  have  ^Rid 
A  soul  has  cheered  and  comforted; 
If  I  have  tried,  at  least,  to  share 
The  burdens  that  my  neighbors  bear ; 
Then  I  can  count  my  day  well  spent, 
And  sleep  with  calm  and  sweet  content. 

My  name  and  fame  may  not  be  known  in  the 

High  places ;  on  my  head 

No  laurel  wreath  may  ever  set, 

No  bay  leaves  crown  my  brow,  and  yet, 

If  but  one  traveller  on  life's  way 

Will  pause  beside  my  grave  and  say, 

"She  did  her  best  the  world  to  make 

A  better  place  for  mankind's  sake," 


THE     BRIGHT     SIDE     109 


Then  I  shall  feel  my  rest  well  earned, 
Life's  lessons  not  all  vainly  learned. 

And  when  before  the  Great  White  Throne 

I  stand  to  meet  the  Master's  eye, 

I  may  not  have  a  tale  to  tell 

Of  noble  deeds  and  work  done  well ; 

But  if  one  child  shall  speak,  and  say, 

"She  carried  me  when  rough  the  way," 

If  he  to  whom  I  brought,  in  need, 

A  cup  of  water,  will  but  plead 

My  cause,  I  know,  'twill  yet  be  won, 

And  I  shall  hear  the  sweet  "Well  done !" 

HELEN    COMBES 

HARD     TIMES 

HARD  times  will  try  to  down  you 

If  he  gits  a  decent  show; 
He  likes  to  ketch  you  nappin' 

When  you're  handicapped  with  woe. 
Don't  let  him  see  you're  frightened, 

But  jest  look  him  in  the  eye; 
He'll  tire  of  bein'  hoodwinked 

An*  will  leave  you  by  an'  by. 

Hard  times  may  try'n'  surround  you, 

An'  load  you  in  his  cart; 
Don't  let  him  e'er  confound  you, 


110     THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 

But  sing  him  from  your  heart, 
Hard  times  can't  stand  your  singin% 

Your  music  makes  him  smart; 
Jest  keep  your  bow  a-swingin', 

An*  play  him  from  your  heart. 

BOSTON  "HERALD." 

IP  you  want  knowledge  you  must  toil  for  it; 
if  food,  you  must  toil  for  it;  and  if  pleasure,  you 
must  toil  for  it.  Toil  is  the  law.  Pleasure  comes  by 
toil  and  not  by  self  indulgence  and  indolence.  When 
one  gets  to  love  work,  his  life  is  a  happy  one. 

BUSKIN 

THE  best  things  are  nearest: 

Breath  in  your  nostrils,  light  in  your  eyes,  flowers 
at  your  feet,  duties  at  your  hand,  the  path  of  God 
just  before  you. 

Then  do  not  grasp  at  the  stars,  but  do  life's  plain, 
common  work  as  it  comes,  certain  that  daily  duties 
and  daily  bread  are  the  sweetest  things  of  life. 


IN     COMMON    THINGS 

SEEK  not  far  for  beauty.    Lo !  it  glows 
In  dew  wet  grasses  all  about  thy  feet; 
In  birds,  in  sunshine,  childish  faces  sweet, 

In  stars,  and  mountain  summits  topped  with  snows. 


THE     BRIGHT     SIDE     111 

Go  not  abroad  for  happiness.    For  see ! 

It  is  a  flower  that  blossoms  by  thy  door. 

Bring  love  and  justice  home;  and  then  no  more 
Thou'lt  wonder  in  what  dwelling  joy  may  be. 

Dream  not  of  noble  service  elsewhere  wrought. 
The  simple  duty  that  awaits  thy  hand 
Is  God's  voice  uttering  a  divine  command: 

Life's    common    deeds    build    all    that    saints    have 

thought.  MINOT  J.   SAVAGE 

HALF  the  world  is  on  the  wrong  scent  in  the  pur- 
suit of  happiness.  They  think  it  consists  in  having 
and  getting,  and  in  being  served  by  others.  It  con- 
sists in  giving  and  in  serving  others. 

HENRY    DRUMMOND 

LOOKING    ON     THE     BRIGHT 
SIDE 

TA  HEART  without  a  trace  of  guile, 

A  countenance  with  sun  in  it, 
A  merry  song,  a  merry  smile, 

And  quip  with  lots  of  fun  in  it. 

Gloom,  you  know,  is  sure  to  come, 

Pain,  and  all  the  rest  of  it ; 
I  have  known  it — all  have  some — 

Let  us  make  the  best  of  it. 


112     THE    BRIGHT    SIDE 

Then  keep  ahead  of  all  your  care, 
They're  fools  who  walk  abreast  of  it. 

So  give  the  fling  to  fell  despair 
And  always  make  the  best  of  it. 

LA  TOTICHE  HANCOCK  in  N.  Y.  "SUN." 

RESTLESS    HEART,    DON'T 
WORRY     SO 

DEAR  restless  heart,  be  still ;  don't  fret  and  worry  so ; 
God  hath  a  thousand  ways  His  love  and  help  to  show 
Just   trust,   and   trust,    and   trust,   until   His   will 
you  know. 

Dear  restless  heart,  be  still,  for  peace  is  God's  own 

smile; 

His  love  can  every  wrong  and  sorrow  reconcile ; 
Just  love,  and  love,  and  love,  and  calmly  wait  a  while. 

Dear  restless  heart,  be  brave ;  don't  moan  and  sorrow 

so; 

He  hath  a  meaning  kind  in  chilly  winds  that  blow ; 
Just  hope,  and  hope,  and  hope,  until  you  braver 

grow. 

Dear  restless  heart,  repose  upon  His  heart  an  hour ; 
His  heart  is  strength  and  life,  His  heart  is  bloom  and 

flower ; 
Just  rest,  and  rest,  and  rest,  within  His  tender  power. 


THE    BRIGHT     SIDE     113 


Dear  restless  heart,  be  still,  don't  toil  and  worry  so; 
God  is  the  silent  One,  forever  calm  and  slow; 
Just  wait,  and  wait,  and  wait,  and  work  with  Him 
below. 

Dear  restless  heart,  be  still;  don't  struggle  to  be 

free; 

God's  life  is  in  your  life,  to  Him  you  may  not  flee ; 
Just  pray,  and  pray,  and  pray,  till  you  have  faith 

to  see. 

EDITH   WILLIS   LINN 

GOOD     TIMES 

GOOD  times  they  are  comin', 

Don't  stand  in  their  way; 
Git  onto  the  curbstone, 

An'  give  'em  full  sway. 
Don't  block  up  the  traffic, 

Don't  hinder  their  pace ; 
Good  times  they  are  comin', 

Make  way  for  the  race! 

Good  times  they  are  comin', 

Push,  push  on  behind ; 
Don't  scowl  at  the  pageant, 

Be  cheerful  an'  kind. 
Encourage  the  drummin' 


114     THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 


With  smiles  on  your  face; 
Good  times  they  are  comin', 
Make  way  for  the  race ! 

BOSTON  "HERALD". 

SMILE 

"SMILE,  and  the  world  smiles  with  you, 

Weep,  and  you  weep  alone; 
For  the  good  old  earth  has  need  of  your  mirth, 
It  has  sorrow  enough  of  its  own." 

OLD  ENGLISH   CLASSIC 

DO     NOT     WAIT 

Are  there  duties  left  undone? 
Are  there  laurels  to  be  won? 
While  the  new  year  has  begun, 
Do  not  wait. 

Is  there  someone's  heart  to  cheer? 
Have  you  made  life's  road  less  drear? 
You've  a  chance  in  this  new  year. 
Do  not  wait. 

Have  you  left  life's  pages  wet? 
With  the  tears  of  some  regret? 
You've  a  few  bright  pages  yet. 
Do  not  wait. 


THE     BRIGHT     SIDE     115 


Fill  them  full  of  life's  that  true, 
Scatter  smiles  when  days  look  blue, 
They'll  reflect  more  light  to  you. 
Do  not  wait. 


Are  your  records  just  as  bright 
As  you  wish  they  were  to-night? 
You  can  make  them  nearer  right. 
Do  not  wait. 

LUMILLA    CLAIRE    CLARK 


"If  I  can  stop  one  heart  from  breaking, 

I  shall  not  live  in  vain. 
If  I  can  ease  one  life  the  aching, 

Or  soothe  one  pain, 
Or  help  one  fainting  robin 

Unto  his  nest  again, 
I  shall  not  live  in  vain." 


AND  I,  too,  sing  the  song  of  all  creation, — 

A  brave  sky  and  a  glad  wind  blowing  by, 
A  clear  trail  and  an  hour  for  meditation, 

A  long  day  and  the  joy  to  make  it  fly ; 
A  hard  task  and  the  muscle  to  achieve  it, 

A  fierce  noon,  and  a  well-contented  gloam, 
A  good  strife  and  no  great  regret  to  leave  it, 

A  still  night  and  the  far  red  lights  of  home. 


116     THE    BRIGHT     SIDE 


THE   ROAD   TO   LAUGHTERTOWN 

Would  ye  learn  the  road  to  Laughtertown, 

O  ye  who  have  lost  the  way? 

Would  ye  have  young  heart  though  your 

hair  be  gray? 

Go  learn  from  a  little  child  each  day, 
Go  serve  his  wants  and  play  his  play, 
And  catch  the  lilt  of  his  laughter  gay, 
And  follow  his  dancing  feet  as  they  stray ; 
For  he  knows  the  road  to  Laughtertown, 
O  ye  who  have  lost  the  way. 

KATHERINE    D.     BLAKE 

FOLKS  who  never  do  any  more  than  they  get  paid 
for,  never  get  paid  for  any  more  than  they  do ! 

ALA   BABA 

CEEEDS  grow  out  of  life — not  life  out  of  creeds. 

WHITE  it  in  your  heart  that  every  day  is  the 
best  day  in  the  year.  EMERSON 

NEVER  bear  more  than  one  kind  of  trouble  at  a 
time.  Some  people  bear  three — all  they  have  had, 
all  they  have  now  and  all  they  expect  to  have. 

EDWARD  EVERETT  HALE 


INDEX    TO    TITLES 

Abou  Ben  Adhem 107 

Act  the  Man 60 

All  Things  Come  Right— R.  S.  Pickering     ...  4 

Beauty— Ruskin 28 

Beauty  of  Work — Lucy  Larcom 47 

Be  Cheerful 22 

Best  Day,  The 76 

Best  Faith,  The— E.  P.  Powell 95 

Be  Strong — Rev.  M.  D.  Babcock 18 

Build  a  Little  Fence — Mary  Frances  Butts      .     .  16 

But  Once — A.  B.  Hegeman 5 

Character 6l 

Cheerfulness— R.  McLain  Fields 21 

Christmas,  Spirit  of—Henry  Fan  Dyke      ...  46 

Clear  the  Way— Atlanta  "Constitution"      ...  21 

Contentment — David  Swing 91 

Courage — Henry  Fan  Dyke 70 

Creed  Worth   Believing        86 

Daily  Need — John  Brisbin  Walker       ....  70 

Day  by  Day 17 

Do  Not  Wait — Lumilla  Claire  Clark       ....  114 
Don't  Let  the  Song  go  out  of  Your  Life — 

Kate  R.  Stiles 87 

Don't    Wait        104 

Don't  Worry— Ripley  D.  Saunders        ....  89 

Do  Something  for  Somebody— Rev.  J.  S.  Cutler    .  94 

Duty— Phillips    Brooks        90 

Give  Him  a  Lift 44 

Good  Night—  Victor  Hugo 47 

Good  Times — Boston  "Herald"                 ....  113 


INDEX    TO    TITLES 


Happiness 105 

Happiness,  Rule  for — Kant 50 

Happiness,  Secret  of 51 

Happy  Life,  Recipe  for — Queen  Margaret       .     .  50 

Hard  Times— Boston  "Herald" 109 

Harmony  Club  of  America 96 

Heart's  Door,  The— E.  E.  Hale  ......  72 

Helpful  Touch — Forward 95 

His    Wealth        10 

Holidays — Longfellow 37 

Home  Blessing 72 

Humor  a  Good  Buffer — President  Taft       ...  54 

% 

Ideal,  The — "Donahue's  Magazine"       ....  36 

In  Common  Things 110 

Inspiration 10 

Is  Life  Worth  Living? — T.  W.  Brown     ....  11 

It  May  be  Mine 102 

Journey,  The — Washington  "Star" 38 

Just  to  be  Tender 90 

Keep  a'Goin — Frank  L.  Stanton 7 

Keep    Hustling — George   Loarts        26 

Keep  the  Bright  Side  Out— S.  E.  Riser      ...  2 

Keep  Your  Grit— L.  E.  Thayer 14 

Let  us  Smile — Baltimore  "American"      ....  24 

Life— Charlotte  Becker 85 

Life's  Mirror — Madeline  S.  Bridget       ....  12 

Little  by  Little 43 

Little  More  Heart,  A — Baltimore  "Sun"      ...  9 

Little  Things  of  Life 82 

Little  Word,   The 8 

Live  it  Down 79 

Look  at  the  Bright  Side — Dr.  Geo.  F.  Butler      .  100 

Look    Pleasant        93 

Looking  on  the  Bright  Side — La  Touche  Hancock  1 1 1 


INDEX    TO    TITLES 


Man  Who  Does,  The 42 

Morning — Browning        5 

My    Creed 101 

My  Goal— Helen  Coombes 108 

My  Share — John  Kendrick  Bangs 66 

Negro   Funeral,   The 39 

Nobler  Way,  A— Rev.  J.  A.  Barnes       ....  78 

No  Use  Grievin' — Atlanta  "Constitution"       .     .  62 

Now — Charles  R.   Skinner 6 

Old-Fashioned  Philosophy — J.  A.  Edgerton    .     .  45 

One  Kindly  Thought 63 

Open  the  Door 13 

Optimism — Jean    D wight    Franklin        ....  1 

Optimism — Somerville  "Journal" 3 

Opportunity — Judge  Walter  Malone       ....  55 

Pass  It  On — Rev.  Henry  Burton 27 

Pessimism,  Recipe  for — President  Hyde      ...  85 

Pluck   Wins        61 

Real  Life — James  Freeman  Clarke 14 

Restless  Heart,  Don't  Worry  So— 

Edith  Willis  Linn 112 

Rhyme  of  the  Season,  A 48 

Road  to  Laughtertown — Katherine  D.  Blake       .  116 

Sanity,  Recipe  for — Henry  R.  Eliot       ....  23 

Say  Something  Good — Baltimore  "American"      .  19 

Service 99 

Smile 13 

Somebody        81 

Something  Each  Day 88 

Somewhere 106 

Sower  and  Seed 92 

Spring  Cleaning — R.  6'.  Pickering 16 


INDEX    TO    TITLES 


Sunshine  Making — Juniata  Stafford       ....  S4 

Sun  Will  Shine,  The — Mary  F.  Butts      ....  38 

Success — John  Kendrick  Bangs 57 

Success?  Is  it— Susie  M.  Best 59 

Struggle,  The 74 

Suppose  You  Try  Smiling 103 

Sympathy 68 

Symphony,  My — W.  H.  Channing 91 

Thackeray's   Creed— Charlotte  Becker       ...  83 

Things  that  Count,  The— Clarence  Urmy     ...  67 

Today  and  Tomorrow 30 

To   Live        97 

What  I  Live  For — G.  L.  Banks 77 

What  Was  His  Creed? 32 

Will   Not  Grow  Old 88 

World  Within,  The—  Whittier 73 

Worth  Thinking  of 71 

Your   Kingdom 93 

You  Will  not  be  Sorry 78 


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